Trump Commerce pick vows to keep NOAA intact

By Daniel Cusick | 01/29/2025 01:43 PM EST

Financier Howard Lutnick told senators the department would meet its oil and gas priorities and that fisheries policies “must put Americans first.”

Howard Lutnick testifies during his confirmation hearing.

Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of Commerce, testifies during his confirmation hearing Wednesday. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick told a Senate panel Wednesday that he would oppose the dismantling of NOAA or a major reorganization of the climate and fisheries agency by the Trump administration.

Under questioning from Rep. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Lutnick gave an emphatic “no” to the Democratic lawmaker’s question about NOAA’s future, which has become a subject of wide speculation after last year’s release of a hyper-conservative policy blueprint advocating for deep reforms or even the elimination of the climate, weather and oceans agency.

When subsequently asked by Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington if he believed the agency should be shifted from Commerce to the Interior Department, Lutnick said, “I want to do it right, and right now Commerce is doing it right, so I have no interest in separating it.”

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Lutnick’s answers came amid a line of questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers about the future of NOAA, which has come under withering criticism from Republicans, including President Donald Trump, for pursuing burdensome regulations on the maritime economy, including offshore oil and gas, the seafood industry and shippers that rely on U.S. ports.

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