Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a progressive who has vowed to ease Beijing’s grip on critical minerals supply chains, is stepping up to serve as the top Democrat on the House select committee on China.
Khanna will replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who served as the panel’s top Democrat for three years before announcing on Monday that he plans to step down later this month.
Khanna, whose district includes parts of Silicon Valley, has focused on boosting artificial intelligence and called for developing domestic industries like minerals, steel, ships and aluminum through investments — not tariffs — to reduce U.S. reliance on China.
“We need to be able to source critical minerals not from China,” Khanna said during a Hoover Institution event in April. “There are allies like India and others that have rare earths, critical minerals. We need a comprehensive strategy about how we get some of these things, not from China.”
