Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Commerce — and implement the president’s sweeping trade and tariff agenda — is set for a full Senate confirmation vote in the coming days.
The Senate voted to advance Howard Lutnick’s nomination Thursday afternoon, 52-45. It comes after the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted last week, 16-12, to advance Lutnick to the floor, with just Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voting with all Republicans in support.
Lutnick, who is expected to be confirmed easily along party lines at least, rebuilt the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He has leaned into Trump’s enthusiasm around tariffs to boost American industry, which Republicans have largely embraced despite some concerns about how they could raise prices. Democrats have been sharply critical of this strategy.
Democrats have also scrutinized Lutnick’s business entanglements. Despite substantial ties to a controversial cryptocurrency firm, Lutnick has declined to say if he will recuse himself from a White House cryptocurrency working group, which will be tasked with creating a framework for trading digital assets — a top priority for the crypto industry seeking more legitimacy for its business at the top rungs of the federal government.
Still, Democrats have been enthusiastic about Lutnick’s support of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to boost American semiconductor manufacturing that President Joe Biden signed, and which some Republicans have derided as wasteful.