Biden Administration Ignored Congressional Report on China Political Warfare

For years, Washington has faced mounting warnings about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration into America’s government, economy, education system, media, and even military. Despite this growing threat, successive Democratic administrations allowed Beijing to expand its reach across key U.S. institutions—many of which have become increasingly dependent on Chinese money and influence.

President Trump, recognizing the danger, launched the China Initiative in 2018 to combat Chinese espionage, intellectual property theft, and covert influence operations. Overseen by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and coordinated through the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the FBI, the program represented one of the most aggressive counterintelligence efforts in U.S. history. Thousands of investigations were opened into CCP-linked activities, marking a sharp policy shift that aimed to protect American innovation and sovereignty.

However, in 2022, the Biden administration abruptly shut down the initiative. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen claimed the move was driven by “perceptions” that the program unfairly targeted individuals of Chinese descent. Critics argued that the administration had succumbed to one of Beijing’s most effective tactics—using accusations of racism to discredit and dismantle U.S. counterintelligence programs.

The result, according to national security experts, was to leave America without a dedicated program to combat Chinese espionage precisely when CCP operations were escalating.

A House Oversight Committee report, released in October 2024, sounded the alarm. It warned that the CCP is waging “unrestricted political warfare” against the United States—using espionage, economic manipulation, propaganda, and elite capture to undermine American democracy and global leadership. The report described the CCP as a totalitarian regime that suppresses its citizens, fuels the U.S. fentanyl crisis, and seeks to dominate emerging technologies and global institutions.

The committee, led by Chairman James Comer, criticized the Biden administration for dismantling Trump’s China Initiative and failing to replace it with a coordinated national strategy. The report concluded that the Justice Department’s decision to terminate the program under political pressure amounted to a “psychological warfare victory” for Beijing.

“By prioritizing political optics over national security,” the report stated, “the administration abandoned one of America’s most effective tools against Chinese infiltration.”

Widespread Failures Across Federal Agencies

The Oversight Committee’s investigation examined 25 federal agencies and found no unified, government-wide strategy to counter CCP influence. Instead, agencies operated independently, producing inconsistent and often ineffective responses.

Among its findings:

Department of Education: No plan to protect U.S. students from CCP-linked groups such as Confucius Institutes or Chinese Students and Scholars Associations.
NASA: Praised China’s lunar achievements while downplaying the ongoing U.S.-China space race.
Treasury Department: Ignored China’s economic warfare and the global debt traps created by its Belt and Road Initiative in an effort to maintain Chinese investment in U.S. debt.
Department of Agriculture: Lacked a strategy to secure American farmland and food supplies from CCP-linked purchases, including land acquisitions near U.S. military bases.
National Science Foundation: Recognized China as a major research threat but refused to treat the CCP as a distinct danger, opting for “country-neutral” policies.
State Department: Failed to track the hundreds of thousands of agreements with Chinese entities and lacked a basic understanding of “political warfare.”
Consumer Product Safety Commission: Neglected to warn Americans about the risks of Chinese-made goods.
Department of Transportation: Downplayed concerns about espionage involving Chinese-made container cranes transmitting data back to China, calling it “normal.”

The Justice Department, once the lead agency under Trump’s China Initiative, was accused of losing both the will and the expertise to counter CCP infiltration. The Department of Commerce and Environmental Protection Agency were also faulted for ignoring elite capture and allowing Chinese front groups to exploit U.S. green energy policies.

The committee’s overall assessment was stark: nearly every major federal agency remains vulnerable to Chinese manipulation, negligence, or infiltration.

Elite Capture and Cognitive Warfare

The report also warned that Beijing’s strategy goes far beyond espionage—it targets the very fabric of American society through “elite capture” and “cognitive warfare.”

Expert testimony before the committee detailed how Chinese operatives infiltrate U.S. corporations, universities, and think tanks. Dr. Robert Atkinson testified that the CCP “targets pretty much all the elites,” using them as “human assets” to obtain intellectual property and shape policy in Beijing’s favor. Michael Casey, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, expressed alarm at how many major companies are blind to insider threats.

The report cited multiple examples of elite capture, including Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz’s ties to CCP-linked organizations, and noted that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns attended a 2023 San Francisco dinner honoring Xi Jinping—an event where American executives applauded the Chinese leader’s speech on “friendship” between the two nations.

The committee warned that such displays of deference only embolden Beijing and mislead the public about China’s true intentions.

It also highlighted the case of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who represents Chinese drone giant DJI—accused of aiding CCP intelligence operations. Reports suggested Lynch sought to have DJI removed from the Pentagon’s list of Communist Chinese Military Companies despite security concerns.

A Call to Action

The report concluded that the United States is already engaged in a “new Cold War” with China—one in which only Beijing is fully committed to winning.

Chairman Comer urged immediate action to develop a coordinated, transparent national strategy that unites all federal agencies and raises public awareness of the CCP’s political warfare tactics.

“Continued inaction leaves Americans vulnerable,” Comer warned. “How we respond now will determine whether the United States remains the world’s leading power in the century ahead.”

Through economic infiltration, elite capture, and cognitive warfare, the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing its long-term objective: to weaken American independence, manipulate global perception, and dominate without firing a shot.

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