Trump Gets Another Confirmed Cabinet Member

Senate votes 51-45 to confirm Lutnick as commerce secretary, advances Patel nomination
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2024 2:10 PM CST
Updated Feb 18, 2025 6:29 PM CST
Trump Picks Lutnick for Commerce Secretary
Howard Lutnick speaks at a Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
UPDATE Feb 18, 2025 6:29 PM CST

Another member of President Trump's Cabinet has been confirmed. The Senate voted 51 to 45 Tuesday evening to confirm billionaire financier Howard Lutnick as Trump's commerce secretary, the New York Times reports. Lutnick agreed last month to step down as chairman and CEO of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, CBS News reports. Lutnick has spoken out in support of Trump's tariff plans. At his confirmation hearing last month, he said the idea that tariffs cause inflation is "nonsense." The Senate also advanced Trump's nomination of Kash Patel for FBI director, reports NBC News. The vote was 48-45.

Nov 19, 2024 2:10 PM CST

President-elect Trump has chosen billionaire investor Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, to serve as commerce secretary. Lutnick, CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, has been advising Trump on economic matters and is a strong supporter of policies including tariffs and lower corporate taxes, the New York Times reports. Trump announced the pick in a Truth Social post, saying Lutnick "will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative."

If confirmed Lutnick will succeed Gina Raimondo as leader of what the AP describes as a "sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data, and monitoring the weather." Lutnick, a major Trump donor and fundraiser, was also under consideration for Treasury secretary—a more powerful role—and had the support of Elon Musk. Insiders tell the Times that the competition for the Treasury job is like a "knife fight" and Trump privately complained that Lutnick was trying to manipulate the nomination process.

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In his Truth Social post, Trump described Lutnick as a "dynamic force on Wall Street for more than 30 years." The 63-year-old, who was orphaned as a teenager, attended Haverford College on a scholarship and joined Cantor Fitzgerald after he graduated in 1983. He became CEO when he was 29 years old. The company lost 658 of its 960 New York-based employees in the 9/11 attacks, including Lutnick's brother, Trump wrote. "He emerged from these events with an indominable sense of purpose to rebuild the firm to honor those lost, support their families, and become a beacon of hope for those who remained," Trump wrote. (More President-elect Trump stories.)

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