← Chronicle · Confirmation · February 18, 2025

Howard Lutnick Confirmed as Secretary of Commerce, 51–45

Senate vote: 51–45

Howard Lutnick was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Commerce on February 18, 2025, by a vote of 51–45, and was sworn into office on February 21, 2025.

The mission that started here is the commerce and trade portfolio: tariffs as statecraft, export controls, and the investment-acceleration brief that runs through the Economy, Tariffs & Trade hub — the portfolio he is seen carrying alongside the President in this site’s video record, from factory announcements to the Korea energy package.

Sources: Senate confirmation record, February 18, 2025, 51–45 (banked in this site’s research cluster A); swearing-in date February 21, 2025 (audit sprint A, via the C-SPAN swearing archive and the Congress.gov record).