EXCLUSIVE: Joni Ernst Unveils Amendment To Purge CCP From US Defense Industrial Base

An amendment adopted into the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would require the Department of Defense (DOD) to vet U.S. defense contractors for Chinese intelligence-ties, according to a copy exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Introduced by Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, the Assessment Of Foreign Ownership Contractors amendment gives DOD one year to formalize its vetting policies for defense contractors, while also forcing the secretary of Defense to vet contractors for “membership, affiliation, or participation” in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD). Furthermore, DOD’s failure to comply with the amendment’s deadline automatically results in the cancellation of “all contracts and subcontracts with contractors and subcontracts not assessed for risks related to foreign ownership, control, or influence.”

Ernst sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in March 2025 calling on DOD to kill contracts with U.S. defense contractor S&L Aerospace Metals LLC, citing a February DCNF investigation revealing Chinese government and state media reports that identified the firm’s owner as an official within multiple UFWD agencies.

“It is inexcusable that the Biden administration failed to take commonsense steps to protect America’s national security from espionage,” Ernst told the DCNF. “We know China and other foreign adversaries are hard at work to steal our technology. The last thing we need to do is leave the backdoor unlocked for them.”

“By implementing a thorough vetting process for all DOD contractors, we can guarantee that America will be safer, stronger, and more secure while remaining the world’s leader in innovation,” Ernst said.

The 2026 NDAA, which determines DOD’s annual budget, has passed out of committee and is now headed to the Senate floor for final passage.

The DCNF’s February report found that New York-based S&L has won approximately $60 million in defense contracts and subcontracts for fighter jet, attack helicopter and guided missile launcher parts. However, S&L’s CEO, Jerry Wang, has been identified as a “director” of multiple UFWD agencies by Chinese government records and state media reports.

The UFWD’s operations are a “blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the [CCP] uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the [People’s Republic of China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.

Wang’s spokesman, Mark Herr, denied he had “acted in any way that is disloyal,” and Wang’s attorney likewise insisted that his client had no ties to foreign political entities after the DCNF inquired about some 13 photos picturing Wang at Chinese government functions alongside high-ranking UFWD chiefs and party officials, including Xi Jinping. However, when asked if Wang denied being pictured in those photographs, Wang’s attorney replied: “no.”

“Jerry Wang is a loyal American citizen who has proudly helped keep America’s national defense strong for 25 years and any suggestion that he is anything but is false, wrong, and defamatory,” Herr told the DCNF.

[Image created by DCNF with screenshots from DCSA document, ding13524’s YouTube account, Chinese government and state media]

‘Step In The Right Direction’

Ernst’s amendment may succeed where other attempts to safeguard DOD’s vetting process for defense contractors have failed.

In June, the House Select Committee on the CCP cited the DCNF’s February S&L investigation within a letter sent to Hegseth calling on DOD to fully implement the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) rule mandated by Section 847 of the 2020 NDAA, which requires DOD to thoroughly review U.S. defense contractors and subcontractors to determine the “true individuals or entities who ultimately own or control a business,” according to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA).

However, DFARS’ implementation has been delayed for almost five years, leaving the U.S. defense industrial base “vulnerable to infiltration and exploitation,” the House Select Committee on the CCP’s letter stated.

An unclassified document concerning DFARS’ implementation produced by DCSA — which conducts 95% of the federal government’s background investigations — states that the agency is currently only able to complete roughly 30% of the reviews required, despite DCSA’s $3 billion budget. That document, which was presented to congressional committees and staff earlier this year, also cites the DCNF’s February S&L investigation as a “test case,” a DCSA spokesperson told the DCNF in June.

Yet, even full implementation of DFARS would likely fail to identify compromised defense contractors, because its process relies on self-disclosure, L.J. Eads, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst, told the DCNF.

On the other hand, Ernst’s 2026 NDAA amendment may plug that loophole, Eads said, because it includes an enforcement mechanism compelling DOD to either actively vet defense contractors or cancel their contracts.

“Before this amendment, there was no clear path forward for assessing or conducting due diligence on foreign ownership, control, and influence — the DOD largely relied on self-reporting,” Eads said. “[Ernst’s amendment] is a requirement for an assessment and mitigation plan of DOD contractor risks associated with foreign ownership, control, and influence.”

“All in all, this is a great step in the right direction to plan a path to restrict the CCP and other adversaries from injecting themselves into DOD supply chains unnoticed,” Eads continued. “For the first time, UFWD-linked contractors can’t hide behind self-reporting.”