Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst asked the Department of Defense (DOD) on Tuesday to investigate a U.S. defense contractor owned by an individual with extensive ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence and influence agencies, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Ernst’s letter urges DOD to audit “and, if necessary, suspend or cancel all contracts” with New York-based S&L Aerospace Metals LLC, which has received approximately $60 million in defense contracts and subcontracts to produce fighter jet, attack helicopter and guided missile launcher parts. The letter cites a February 2025 DCNF investigation finding that Chinese government and state media reports had identified S&L’s CEO, Jerry Wang, as an official for multiple CCP influence and intelligence organizations.
“S&L, wholly owned by Wang, reportedly produces and supplies critical components for U.S. military aircraft and weapons, including components for the F-16 and F-35 jets, Seahawk and Black Hawk helicopters, and guided missiles,” reads the letter from Ernst, who is the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus chair. “This raises serious concerns that the Chinese Communist Party could exploit Wang’s position to access sensitive or even classified national security information.”
Since becoming S&L’s CEO in 2001, multiple organizations run by a CCP intelligence and Chinese influence arm called the United Front Work Department (UFWD) have identified Wang as a member, the DCNF reported.
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 served as a ‘director’ of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association (COFA), a key UFWD organ. Wang attended multiple COFA events, including a conference where he applauded Chinese dictator Xi Jinping,” Ernst’s letter states. “He is reportedly an ‘overseas committee member’ and ‘executive deputy chairman’ of another United Front organ, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.”
