Democrat U.S. Senators Lead New Probe Into Cantor Fitzgerald, USAR After $1.6 Billion Trump Administration Deal. Commerce-USAR Deal Appears to Directly Benefit Cantor Fitzgerald, Led by Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s Sons.

Details: Last Updated: Wednesday, 08 July 2026 03:15; Published: Wednesday, 08 July 2026 05:04

Bicameral group raises corruption, conflict of interest concern

Commerce-USAR deal appears to directly benefit Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s sons

Text of Letter to Cantor Fitzgerald (PDF) | Text of Letter to USA Rare Earth (PDF)

July 8, 2026 - Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Lutnick howard 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).

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

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.

Senator Warren 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.

Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption and hold the Trump administration accountable:

In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for answers following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to drop its criminal case against billionaire Gautam Adani after he hired President Trump’s personal lawyer and reportedly offered a quid-pro-quo deal to invest $10 billion in the United States in return.
In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), pressed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following reports that the White House interfered to deliver a lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Vulcan Elements, a key Trump Jr.-linked company.
In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed the Acting Director-Designate for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), David Venturella, on his decades-long revolving door career between ICE and the private prison industry and his reported use of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and resources for personal or political favors.
In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the Banning Lobbying And Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act, a bipartisan bill to impose a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
In February 2026, 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; and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, pressed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on concerns over his close involvement in the Department’s recent investment in rare earth mineral company USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR) that appears to have directly benefited the Secretary’s former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, which is now led by his two adult sons.
In February 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), along with Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) pressed the Inspectors General (IGs) of 16 key agencies to open investigations into senior Trump officials who were recently lobbyists or “shadow lobbyists” and may be using their roles to benefit their former employers and clients.
In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies associated with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) pressed the Trump administration to follow through on promises to limit defense companies’ stock buybacks and incentivize them to increase research and development spending.
In December 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s review of any Warner Bros. merger due to potential conflicts of interest related to her former employer, lobbying firm Ballard Partners.
In September 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Donald Korb, nominee for Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ahead of Korb’s confirmation hearing, pressing him on his stark conflicts of interest and urging him to make ethics commitments to mitigate these conflicts.
In July 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended.
In July 2023, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and United States Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the Retired Officers Conflict of Interest Act – a bill that would require public reporting on retired service members working on behalf of foreign governments and creating civil penalties if they break the law.
In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials’ conflicts of interest across the government.

Source: Senator Elizabeth Warren