Trump submits federal pension board nominees, opening door to cut China investments

President Trump on Monday nominated three people to the board that oversees federal employees pension funds – who if confirmed could give the president the majority votes needed to eliminate some Chinese investments. 

The nominees – John M. Barger, of California; Christopher Bancroft Burnham, of Connecticut, and Frank Dunlevy, of California – if confirmed by the Senate to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board would replace board members whose term has expired. 

The five-person board oversees the Thrift Savings Plan, a retirement savings fund that is similar to a 401(k) for federal employees and military members.

If confirmed, the Trump appointees could reverse the board's 2017 decision to allow the TSP's $50 billion international fund to track an index that include some China-based stocks of companies accused of human rights abuses, violating sanctions and aiding the Chinese military, according to Thomson Reuters. 

Barger, Burnham and Dunlevy will serve either a two- or four-year term.

Among the Chinese companies in the index is the surveillance firm Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, placed last year on a trade blacklist for its technology being is used in detention camps for China's Uigher Muslim minorities, according to the wire service.

The move to track the fund starting in the second half of 2020 is facing strong opposition from lawmakers and former officials who have asked the administration to halt the effort, based on the potential for higher returns.

As earlier reported by Just the News, U.S. defense officials are growning concerned about American investments in Chinese defense firms. 

They have warned that Beijing is seeking military supremacy in the Pacific Rim. U.S. intelligence has highlighted that Chinese efforts to steal U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property. 

And officials from President Trump on down have accused China of hiding the severity of the coronavirus, setting back the global response to the pandemic by weeks.