Trump nominees for Commerce, Small Business headed for Senate floor

Senators on Wednesday advanced the nominations of Howard Lutnick and Kelly Loeffler — President Trump’s picks to head the Commerce Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA), respectively.

Both nominations were reported out of committee and are now headed to the full Senate floor for consideration, as Republicans ramp up efforts to install Trump’s nominees.

If confirmed, as is expected, Lutnick will play a crucial role in the administration of Trump’s trade and broader economic agenda.

The Commerce Department is in charge of implementing tariffs and overseeing the process by which industries and businesses can apply for exemptions. While Trump and Lutnick have backed across-the-board tariffs as a matter of fairness, the administration may still exempt some strategically or politically important goods from the import taxes.

Lutnick would also oversee the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the agency responsible for implementing import and export bans, along with other national security-related trade rules.

The BIS will likely play a central role in the Trump administration’s push to crack down on the use of U.S. technology and services by Chinese artificial intelligence firms, which Lutnick highlighted during his confirmation hearing.

“I think they [China] only care about themselves and seek to harm us. And so we need to protect ourselves,” Lutnick said Wednesday.

“If they are going to compete with us, let them compete, but stop using our tools to compete with us.”

Loeffler previously served in the Senate before being defeated by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in 2021. She also faced criticism while in office over stock trades she made during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Prior to being appointed to the Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), Loeffler, whose net worth reportedly sits in the $1 billion range, worked at companies such as Toyota and William Blair before going to Intercontinental Exchange in 2002. There, she met her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, who founded the company.

Loeffler also co-owned the WNBA team Atlanta Dream, which she helped buy in 2011, before later selling her share in 2021 after staunch criticism from the players following her remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement.

“This is a very divisive organization based on Marxist principles,” she said at the time, claiming it was also “anti-Semitic and doesn't support the nuclear family.”

She has also vowed to donate her roughly $210,000 yearly salary to charity.