Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, the former CEO of Wall Street player Cantor Fitzgerald, to serve as Commerce Secretary. Lutnick had been a primary contender for the Treasury Secretary position before infighting expanded the candidate pool.
Lutnick is also co-chair of Trump’s transition team and is tasked with filling around 4,000 government positions. He gave over $10m to Trump’s campaign and helped fundraise millions more.
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He has been a strong proponent of some of Trump’s economic plans that have garnered the most pushback, like the imposition of across-the-board import tariffs. The expectation that he would fully apply the controversial tariffs caused opposition from Wall Street and the corporate sector. Their preferred option is Scott Bessent, the founder of capital management firm Key Square, who is more likely to use tariffs as a negotiating tactic.
The Commerce Secretary has a less central role than the Treasury Secretary. The Commerce Department focuses on the overlap of business and national security interests, increasing domestic manufacturing, patents, and publishing economic data.
This means Lutnick will have an important role in US-China tech and investment restrictions, which mostly have bipartisan support.
In his announcement, Trump also said Lutnick would have “direct responsibility” over the US Trade Representative office. These roles have traditionally been kept separate, as the trade office focuses on trade negotiations with foreign powers.
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By GlobalDataMany of Trump’s cabinet picks have already faced major pushback such as Matt Gaetz for attorney general, RFK Jr. for health secretary and Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor, for secretary of defense.
The cabinet picks still have to be confirmed by the Senate. However, Trump could circumvent this process by appointing his picks while Congress is in recess.
