February 20, 2025 — The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Howard Lutnick as the secretary of the Department of Commerce despite fears that the Trump administration plans to cut NOAA funding or dismantle the agency altogether.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Commerce, which oversees such agencies as NOAA, was confirmed on a 51-45 vote, with no Democrat senators supporting his nomination.
February 18, 2025 — As Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick will oversee NOAA, which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service. The following excerpt is from an article by the Associated Press:
The Senate confirmed wealthy financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday, putting in place a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s hardline trade polices.
At the Commerce Department, Lutnick, who was CEO at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee 50,000 employees who do everything from collecting economic statistics to running the census to issuing weather reports. But he’s likely to spend a lot of time — along with Jamieson Greer, Trump’s nominee to be the top U.S. trade negotiator — managing the president’s aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies and adversaries alike.
The Senate vote to confirm Lutnick was 51-45.
Trump views the tariffs as a versatile economic tool. They can raise money to finance his tax cuts elsewhere, protect U.S. industries and pressure other countries into making concessions on such issues as their own trade barriers, immigration and drug trafficking. Mainstream economists mostly view tariffs as counterproductive: They are paid by import companies in the United States, which try to pass along the higher costs to consumers and can thereby add to inflationary pressures throughout the economy.