The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has requested that Congress delay the ban on federal contractors using Huawei equipment. The ban, part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), will prohibit contractors for the federal government from using Huawei equipment over concerns that the company’s tech could be used to spy on Americans on behalf of the Chinese government.
The request was formally made in a letter by Russell T. Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to the Wall Street Journal, and was sent to Vice President Mike Pence, as well as nine different members of Congress. The NDAA has already been signed by President Donald Trump.
“This is about ensuring that companies who do business with the U.S. government or receive federal grants and loans have time to extricate themselves from doing business with Huawei and other Chinese tech companies listed in the NDAA,” Jacob Wood, a spokesperson for the White House OMB, told the Wall Street Journal in a statement.
All agencies of the federal government will be banned from using Huawei equipment later this year, but the ban for federal contractors and organizations seeking government grants doesn’t take effect for another two years. The White House’s requested extension for contractors would push the ban to four years out.
The letter from OMB cites the detrimental impact on U.S. contractors in rural areas, which disproportionately use Huawei gear because of its low cost. The letter from OMB went on to explain that “a number of agencies have heard significant concerns from a wide range of potentially impacted stakeholders who would be affected.”