WASHINGTON – Howard Lutnick, billionaire CEO and co-chair of the Trump/Vance transition team, vowed to use his position as commerce secretary to implement the new administration’s tariff policies in a confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance introduced the nominee, stating, “This is a person who on a world stage will say more and do more and convince businesses that America is back, that America is growing and thriving.”
If confirmed, Lutnick will lead an agency that has an enormous influence on business, science, and technology promotion. He is one of more than a dozen billionaires tapped by President Donald Trump to serve on his cabinet. Senators on both sides of the aisle made clear their discomfort with his ties to Wall Street.
For 42 years, Lutnick has worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, rising through the ranks to become the CEO and amass a personal fortune. The company was located in the World Trade Center and lost 658 employees, including Lutnick’s younger brother, on Sept. 11, 2001.
Senators pressed Lutnick about whether he would be able to truly separate from his business.
When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) probed him on ethics concerns, Lutnick committed to divesting within 90 days of his confirmation and to cooperate with the ethics agreement.
“So my plan is to only serve the American people. So I will divest and I will sell all of my interests, all of my business interests, all of my assets, everywhere,” Lutnick said.
As the head of the Commerce Department, Lutnick would oversee the implementation of President Trump’s economic and trade agenda, including enforcing the tariff plan that Trump campaigned on. During the hearing, Lutnick expressed a preference for “across the board” tariffs to maintain fairness in international trade.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) raised questions about how Trump’s tariff plan would impact Michigan, a center of American manufacturing. U.S. companies would have to pay higher prices for parts used in their products and could face hostile market conditions abroad.
Lutnick defended Trump’s tariffs.
“I think a thoughtful tariff policy that drives domestic manufacturing is fundamental to American workers, especially the workers of Michigan,” Lutnick stated.
Under questioning, Lutnick said he had “no interest” in dividing up the agencies within National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the Commerce Department. Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term, called for a split. NOAA oversees the National Weather Service and manages American fisheries.
Lutnick had promoted cryptocurrency, specifically Tether, a type of cryptocurrency.
Lutnick fielded questions from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on his connection to Tether, stating that he personally does not own Tether, and that his company Cantor Fitzgerald had no equity in Tether other than 1:1 backing.
After the hearing, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), said he was satisfied with Lutnick’s answers, especially on the issue of cryptocurrency.
“I was concerned about, you know, how his various things such as Tether have been shown to facilitate corrupt activities. And he was pretty direct that we just have to build in and use AI to allow government to be able to rapidly find out not only where that money went, but how it was used, who they gave it to, and begin to follow that whole chain of information,” Hickenlooper said.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), however, expressed concern over Lutnick’s performance and his willingness to uphold the law while working under President Donald Trump.
“Well, he wouldn’t answer my question about opposing an illegal or unconstitutional order from Mr. Trump, and that’s deeply troubling. He says that Mr. Trump would never give an unlawful order, which we know he just did last week.”
