By Gavin Bade

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary, putting in place a billionaire Wall Street veteran turned avowed protectionist to lead the president's global trade agenda.

Who is Howard Lutnick?

The chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial-services firm, ran the personnel operation for Trump's presidential transition. Lutnick, 63, has led Cantor since 1991.

He angled to be Treasury secretary before losing out to Trump's eventual pick, Scott Bessent, who was confirmed last month. Instead, Lutnick was picked for the Commerce Department post. Trump has said the secretary will lead the second-term trade portfolio as well as overseeing an agency of roughly 47,000 employees. Its responsibilities range from economic sanctions to weather forecasting.

How he got to where he is

Lutnick was confirmed after a relatively routine nomination hearing conducted by the Senate Commerce Committee. He pledged to divest himself of his personal stocks and business holdings to avoid conflicts of interest. He also promised to uphold the agency's core functions.

He committed to disburse funding under the 2022 CHIPS Act to bring more semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S., though he hinted he might seek to alter some Biden administration stipulations that recipients provide child care and other services for employees. He cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in a 16-12 vote earlier this month. Only one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted to advance his nomination.

What's next

The president's trade agenda is already in full swing. Trump has imposed tariffs on China and global imports of steel and aluminum, while threatening further duties on Canada, Mexico and Colombia. Lutnick has voiced support for all of those trade moves so far, fashioning himself as one of the most aggressive protectionists in the second-term cabinet. It remains to be seen how he will exert his authority alongside the likes of Peter Navarro, Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Navarro has raised concern among Senate Republicans over his no-holds-barred approach to tariffs.

An agenda item to watch: how Lutnick will deal with the cost-cutting of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. It recently went to work slashing programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Commerce Department division that does weather and climate forecasting. While Lutnick gave himself wiggle room in testimony to pursue efficiencies at the Commerce Department, his confirmation took place before DOGE teams were significantly embedded in the agency.

Write to Gavin Bade at gavin.bade@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2025 18:52 ET (23:52 GMT)

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