Warren, Wyden, Van Hollen Sound Alarm on Lutnick Family’s Conflicts of Interest Involving New Commerce Rare Earth Deal

Warren, Wyden, Van Hollen Sound Alarm on Lutnick Family's Conflicts of Interest Involving New Commerce Rare Earth Deal

Massive deal could benefit Lutnick's immediate family through ties to Cantor Fitzgerald

"It follows in a long string of actions that you have taken in your capacity as the Secretary of Commerce that could stand to enrich your immediate family and former company"

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee; and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, pressed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on concerns over his close involvement in the Department's recent investment in rare earth mineral company USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR). The deal appears to have directly benefited the Secretary's former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, which is now led by his two adult sons.

"This follows in a long string of actions that you have taken in your capacity as the Secretary of Commerce that could stand to enrich your immediate family and former company," wrote the lawmakers.

Securing a domestic supply of critical minerals - including rare earths - is essential to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness, making it especially important that federal investments are based on the merits, and that decisions are made free of conflicts of interest. But the circumstances surrounding the recent Commerce Department investment raise fresh concerns about Trump Administration corruption.

Last month, the Department announced a tentative deal worth up to $1.6 billion with USAR while acquiring 16.1 million shares of the company, around a 10% stake. USAR had only held one previous government contract, worth just under $100,000. On the same day, USAR announced it had also raised $1.5 billion in private funds with Lutnick's former firm Cantor Fitzgerald acting as "lead placement agent" for the transaction, meaning, as the lawmakers noted, "Cantor acted as a compensated broker for a company whose financial position was bolstered by as much as $1.6 billion in public funds from your Department."

Prior to becoming Commerce Secretary, Lutnick owned and led Cantor for years. His ethics agreement required that he divest this interest, which he did by transferring his stake to his adult sons, who now lead the company. Ethics experts have expressed concern that this unusual arrangement "is reason to worry that the public interest is being subordinated, yet again, to the profit seeking of Trump cronies."

"The USAR deal, which you publicly touted and reportedly were personally involved in, is the latest example of how official Commerce Department business has intersected with Cantor Fitzgerald's financial interests during your tenure," wrote the lawmakers.

Secretary Lutnick is not the only one who appears to have benefited from this deal. Billionaire Trump allies appear to have had access to shares of USAR in this private fundraising sale brokered by Cantor, including Steve Schwarzman, Ken Griffin, and Steven A. Cohen - all of whom contributed exorbitant amounts of money to President Trump's campaign and inauguration funds.

"[I]f [these supporters of the Trump administration] had inside information on the Commerce Department, it could potentially implicate federal ethics rules - as well as raising questions about corruption related to financial rewards for wealthy supporters of President Trump and his administration," wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers pressed Secretary Lutnick for answers regarding these clear conflict-of-interest concerns by March 11, 2026.

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