Mike and Brent provide their day-of reactions to July 14, 2026, testimony by U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary for Industry & Security, Jeffrey Kessler, before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although much of the coverage of the hearing and the Under Secretary’s remarks has focused on the Members of Congress questioning why more rules and Entity List additions haven’t been forthcoming, Mike and Brent highlight the Under Secretary’s own emphasis on more enforcement—not more rulemaking or entity-listing—as being the key metric for U.S. national security.

Mike and Brent discuss their main takeaways from the Under Secretary’s testimony (02:00); the increase in monetary penalties imposed by the Bureau of Industry & Security (“BIS”) from 2024 to 2025 and during the first half of 2026 (07:28);  ...