Lofgren, Warren, Wyden, Van Hollen Lead New Probe Into Cantor Fitzgerald, USAR After $1.6 Billion Trump Administration Deal
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee; Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, pressed Cantor Fitzgerald (Cantor) — led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s sons — and USA Rare Earth (USAR) on ethics concerns following their recent $1.6 billion agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce).
USAR’s reported engagement with Secretary Lutnick and financial arrangement with Cantor in conjunction with the Commerce deal — an agreement that potentially resulted in a multi-million-dollar payout to a firm led by the Secretary’s sons — raises glaring red flags.
“It is imperative your compan[ies] provide complete transparency about the substantive conflict of interest concerns raised by the circumstances of this investment,” wrote the lawmakers.
In January 2026, USAR and Commerce announced a tentative $1.6 billion deal in which the federal government agreed to take a 10% stake in USAR. To close the deal, USAR raised $1.5 billion in a private offering for the company’s stock and selected Cantor, Secretary Lutnick’s former financial firm, as the deal’s placement agent. Cantor is currently led by Secretary Lutnick’s son, Brandon Lutnick.
Secretary Lutnick appears to have played a key role in securing the lucrative deal. USAR’s CEO attested to Secretary Lutnick’s decisive and personal involvement after a meeting in November, describing how he opened doors to influential agency staff that manage billions in CHIPS Act funding and officials at other federal agencies. The lawmakers sounded the alarm on potential bribery concerns surrounding the deal, both in relation to Secretary Lutnick and company officials.
“The circumstances around how this deal came together raise serious questions about Secretary Lutnick’s exposure to federal conflicts of interest and bribery laws,” wrote the lawmakers.
“If USAR selected Cantor as its broker as a way to induce, reward, or otherwise curry favor with the Department of Commerce, Secretary Lutnick, or other government officials, it would raise serious questions about USAR’s exposure to federal anti-bribery or gratuity laws,” continued the lawmakers.
Ranking Member Lofgren and Members of Congress previously raised concerns over the Commerce Department’s investment in USAR. In response, USAR’s CEO said: “[o]ur best move was to go with the team who knew us.” Following Secretary Lutnick's refusal to provide answers, the lawmakers expanded their investigation to press Cantor and USAR directly.
The lawmakers pushed Cantor Fitzgerald and USA Rare Earth to provide answers regarding the circumstances around this deal and transaction documents by July 23, 2026.
Read the letter to Cantor Fitzgerald here.
Read the letter to USA Rare Earth here.
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