President-elect Donald Trump tapped Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his Commerce secretary nominee Tuesday, drawing on the billionaire’s financial acumen to potentially oversee an overhaul of U.S. trade policy, including the imposition of tariffs on foreign imports.
In a statement posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform, he said Lutnick, who has been the co-chair of the president-elect’s transition team, helped oversee “the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest administration America has ever seen.”
Trump emphasized the trade aspect of Lutnick’s future role if he is confirmed as the head of the Commerce Department. “He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” the statement said.
The Commerce secretary position also includes overseeing two dozen federal bureaus and offices with a combined budget of $15.4 billion. That includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 12,000-employee environmental agency charged with monitoring and understanding — and in some cases regulating — the global atmosphere and oceans.
It’s unclear if Lutnick has any positions on NOAA, which engages in climate research, weather forecasting and fishery regulations, and is led by a political appointee.
One former senior NOAA official, who was granted anonymity due to sensitivity around the transition, said Lutnick is a blank slate. “I literally know nothing about Lutnick and have not talked to anyone about him,” the official said. “My guess is that no one will really know what he will do with NOAA.”
In recent public interviews, Lutnick has reflected Trump’s positions on the Biden administration’s climate law, saying in an interview on Fox News last month that the Inflation Reduction Act should be called the “Inflation Creation Act.”
“You just pump this money out, eggs get more expensive, french fries, right?” said Lutnick. “It’s a hosing of America, and we’ve got to stop it.”
Lutnick in recent months has also hit the airwaves to tout the work of Trump’s initiative overseen by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and investor Vivek Ramaswamy to reduce the size of the government.
During an interview in late October, Lutnick called for cutting billions from agencies, including the Interior Department, which he said should more rightly be called the “department of all the land and mineral rights of the United States of America.”
At the same time, the federal government could raise money through tariffs and developing the nation’s natural resources, from minerals to oil in Alaska. “We have lithium mines, mine it,” said Lutnick. “Make money from the United States of America.”
NOAA has come under scrutiny from conservatives. A presidential policy blueprint drafted by the Heritage Foundation by conservative leaders, including members of Trump’s first administration, suggested NOAA should undergo a major downsizing and restructuring, including a purge of its climate change research agenda.
Conservatives have also called for privatizing elements of the National Weather Service’s core mission, including weather forecasting. Such a change could have major implications for the service with a $930 million budget and roughly 4,800 employees working across nine agency divisions.
Tim Gallaudet, NOAA’s former assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere and acting NOAA administrator during the first Trump administration, said in an email he was encouraged by Lutnick’s pending appointment.
Gallaudet was a proponent of advancing what’s known as the American “blue economy” strategy, a NOAA-sponsored initiative to apply the agency’s data, tools and services to support coastal economies, which he said he hoped Lutnick would continue.
He also praised Lutnick for an “admirable level of empathy” during his leadership of Cantor Fitzgerald during and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which brought down the World Trade Center towers in New York’s financial district, where the firm was headquartered. “He lost 658 of 960 employees and set up the Cantor Fitzgerald relief fund to support the families of those lost and has since expanded its efforts to assist those affected by natural disasters,” Gallaudet said.
In an emailed statement, Jeff Watters, vice president of external affairs at Ocean Conservancy, said, “In many ways the Commerce Department holds the keys to ocean health in the U.S.”
He added: “We don’t know much about Mr. Lutnick’s environmental views; but we do hope he enjoys seafood and beach outings, because if so, we look forward to finding common cause.”
Before being tapped for Commerce, Lutnick was believed to be among a small group of contenders to become Treasury secretary along with Scott Bessent, the financier and founder of Key Square Group. As of Tuesday afternoon, a Treasury Department Cabinet nominee had not been named.
