Lutnick Confirmed as Commerce Secretary
Howard Lutnick is now the commerce secretary, after the Senate voted 51-45 to confirm him the evening of Feb. 18. All the Republicans present at the time of the vote endorsed Lutnick.
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The top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the vote explaining why she'd be voting no.
"In my conversations with Mr. Lutnick and before his Commerce Committee hearing, he made it very clear that he intends to be very enthusiastic about the President's plans for tariffs. My constituents want to see inflation come down, and they want us to lower costs, not increase them. Now that President [Donald] Trump is teasing out even more tariffs in the coming days on autos, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors, it's going to drive up costs for consumers," she said.