February 26, 2026

Wyden Presses Trump’s Commerce Secretary on Conflict of Interest After Family’s Firm Brokers Investment in Critical Minerals

Oregon senator: “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"

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today pressed U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the extent of his involvement with his department’s recent investment in a rare earth mineral company that also conducts business with his former firm, which is now managed by his two sons.

Last month, the Commerce Department announced a tentative deal worth up to $1.6 billion with USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR), acquiring around 10% stake in the critical mineral company. On the same day, USAR announced it raised $1.5 billion in private funds with Lutnick ’s former firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

“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,” Wyden and two other senators wrote Lutnick. “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.”

Lutnick is not the only well-connected person who appears to have benefited from this deal. Trump’s billionaire allies now allegedly can access USAR shares brokered by Cantor — all of whom contributed exorbitant amounts of money to his 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,” concluded the lawmakers.

A domestic supply of rare earths in America is essential to national security and economic competitiveness, making it important that federal investments are based on merits and not conflicts of interest.

Joining Wyden, the letter was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

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

The text of the letter is here.