F. Left News

In this article, we will discuss the New Grocery Rebate Changes 2024, eligibility, payment changes, and the application process. Canadian citizens have been waiting for a long time for the Grocery Rebate Payment 2024. It is a one-time payment that is given once a year to help individuals and families with low or moderate income. ... Read more

The post New Grocery Rebate Changes Canada 2024 – Know Eligibility, Payment Changes appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

As per the latest updates by the federal government, the Canadian Government is planning to give $2300 Extra OAS for Seniors in July 2024. Senior citizens with low income can avail of this benefit only if they are 65 years and above. The main aim behind this benefit is to help Senior citizens who don’t ... Read more

The post $2300 Extra In OAS For Seniors July 2024: Check Eligibility, Amount & Deposit Date appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

In many states of America, the Department of Revenue is still providing stimulus checks to provide financial assistance to senior citizens and disabled citizens, who are suffering from low income and unable to manage their basic expenditures. Among them, the Colorado Department of Revenue is providing Stimulus Check Worth $1600, to their senior and disabled ... Read more

The post $1600 August Stimulus Checks 2024 – Know Eligible States & Payment Dates appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

This article will provide you with updated information regarding The Chandigarh TGT Result Date, Cut-off Marks, And Merit list for the Exam Scheduled from June 22, 2024, to June 28, 2024. There is a certain stage of doubt among with students who participated in the examination. Chandigarh TGT stands for Trained Graduate Teacher. The Education ... Read more

The post ⁠⁠Chandigarh TGT Result Date 2024, Cut-Off Marks, Merit List @ chededucation.gov.in appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

Due to the high cost of living standards, the American government is providing financial assistance in the form of Social Security Payment Dates 2024. These Social Security Payments involve SSI (Social Security Income), SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), and VA (Veterans Affairs). These Social Security Payments will be provided every month to qualified citizens. Social ... Read more

The post Social Security Payment Dates July 2024 – Know SSI, SSDI & VA Pay Dates appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

The federal government of Canada is delivering a Canada $300 Federal Payment In 2024 to provide monetary help to low-income citizens. this program is calculated to help low-income citizens who are unable to manage their basic expenses. You will be able to get a dollar of 300 through the direct deposit. interested citizens are required ... Read more

The post Canada $300 Federal Payment In 2024: Check Eligibility & Payment Dates appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

The Canada Revenue Agency provides Alberta Child and Family Benefits 2024 to the low- and middle-income group families of Alberta who have children below 18 years. It is a three-monthly tax-free payment that helps families in taking care of their children. The ACFB Amount 2024 will vary depending on the beneficiary’s number of children. In ... Read more

The post $1510 ACFB Payment Date August 2024: Check Eligibility, Benefits & FAQ’s appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

The Bihar School Examination Board examined for Bihar Teacher Eligibility Test 2024 into 2 phases. The first phase was completed from 1 May 2024 to 18 May 2024 and the second phase of exam was completed from 11 June 2024 to 20 June 2024. Candidates who performed in the examination are waiting for the Bihar ... Read more

The post Bihar STET Result 2024, Answer Key & Paper 1 & 2 Cut-Off Marks appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

The Federal Government of Canada offers a $648.91 Monthly CCB Payment to its citizens. It is a non-taxable monthly payment that is provided to support families with the cost of taking care of their children under 6 years of age. They need to fulfil all the eligibility requirements set by CRA. The payment depends on ... Read more

The post $648.91 Canada Child Benefits July 2024 – Check Payment Date & Eligibility appeared first on Latest Finance & Govt Aid News Updates @ Conterview.Org.

Impeach Trump Again, a nonpartisan campaign led by Free Speech For People, has garnered over 100,000 petition signatures, signaling widespread support for an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump. Launched on Inauguration Day, the petition calls on the U.S. Congress to initiate an immediate impeachment investigation into Donald Trump’s violations of the Emoluments Clauses, his unlawful, corrupt campaign practices, and his pardoning and blocking the prosecution of fellow January 6 insurrectionists. The campaign today has added multiple new grounds for an impeachment inquiry based on Trump’s continued abuses of power since assuming the office.

“Trump keeps taking lawless and unconstitutional actions. He has been in office for less than two weeks, and the impeachable offenses continue to pile up,” says John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. “We must demand accountability when a president abuses his power.”

The Constitution contains two Emoluments Clauses that prohibit a president from profiting from the United States, individual states, or foreign governments (U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8; and Article II, Section 1, Clause 7). As understood by the Founding Fathers, these provide a critical safeguard against corruption, particularly by foreign powers. As Alexander Hamilton explained, the Foreign Emoluments Clause ensures that foreign powers “can neither weaken his fortitude by operating on his necessities, nor corrupt his integrity by appealing to his avarice.” The Federalist No. 73.

Trump violated the Emoluments Clauses from his first day in office by refusing to sell his ownership stake in companies receiving substantial payments from foreign governments. At least five foreign governments pay a combined $2 million per month in fees for their units in Trump World Tower.

The campaign lists additional impeachable offenses committed during Trump’s 2024 election campaign and leading up to the inauguration, including: threatening physical violence, including murder, against political opponents, journalists, and protestors; using racist, xenophobic rhetoric that has endangered immigrant communities; and violating campaign finance laws by offering benefits in exchange for campaign contributions. It also highlights the real concern of future offenses, should Congress not follow its constitutional requirement to launch an impeachment investigation.

Since taking office, the campaign has added multiple new grounds for an impeachment inquiry, including: abuse of the pardon power, unconstitutionally stripping U.S. citizens of citizenship, dismantling independent government oversight, unlawfully firing Inspector Generals, unlawfully firing members of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, abusing his power to seek retributions against perceived adversaries, abuse of emergency powers, unconstitutionally usurping local and state authority, and unconstitutionally usurping legislative powers.

“The overwhelming support for impeachment shows that the American public is not willing to accept King Trump,” says Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Free Speech For People Campaign Director. “We need bold leaders in Congress willing to stand up and hold Trump accountable for his abuses of power and initiate an impeachment inquiry.”

In response to President Trump’s lawless actions, Executive Director of The Revolving Door Project, Jeff Hauser released the following statement:

Donald Trump has now illegally fired multiple Democratic members of independent agency boards, including Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board and Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, years before their actual term expiry dates. In so doing, Trump has demonstrated yet again, an abject disregard for the basic rule of law, as well as an apparent willingness to engage in authoritarian-esque hostile takeovers of any part of the government able to provide a check to his power.

Congressional Democrats (and theoretically independent-minded Republicans) cannot let such an overt power grab, and such a tangible disregard for settled federal law, go without a fight. Make no mistake, though often overlooked, the actions of independent agencies have the power to shape nearly every part of public life, and the officials who staff them have genuine authority to hold corporations, including those owned by Trump’s own friends and advisors, accountable to the public they seem intent to abuse.

It is exactly this power that Trump seeks to fundamentally corrupt.

Senators could fight back with the full extent of the power that remains in their hands to engage in principled and coordinated opposition to these authoritarian power grabs. Indeed, recent years have already demonstrated masterful tactical obstructionism without any electoral consequence. It’s time to take note.

"Minority Commissioner appointments can and do matter greatly,” said Jeff Hauser, Revolving Door Project’s founder and Executive Director. “Rohit Chopra’s stint at the Federal Trade Commission under the Trump majority not only instigated substantive enforcement of existing law to the benefit of the public, but also included bringing Lina Khan onto the staff. Legacies can be made and the trajectory of policy changed by minority commissioners, which is why Trump’s corporate puppets are causing the administration to behave in such an undeniably illegal manner. People of goodwill can and should fight back.”

As we always, the Revolving Door Project will continue to track independent agencies, their personnel, their activities, and attempt our best defense of their crucial work, at AgencySpotlight.org.

Later today, candidates competing to lead the Democratic National Committee will take the stage for the final forum before this weekend's party officer elections.

The event will unfold amid Donald Trump's increasingly dangerous efforts to consolidate corporate and state power, a trend that has become strikingly evident over the past week and a half. From his inauguration, surrounded by oil and tech oligarchs, to executive orders designed to deregulate industries controlled by his billionaire backers, and even the purging of civil servants deemed disloyal, Trump is steering the nation toward an economic and political system where strongmen and oligarchs wield power, all while maintaining the facade of democracy.

Ahead of the event, Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese issued the following statement, criticizing the DNC for silencing grassroots voices and disregarding the consensus within the Party base to reject corporate money and form a true opposition party to Trump:

"This moment demands a Democratic Party that provides more than just reactive opposition to an administration bent on rigging our economic and political systems in favor of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals on Earth. It demands leaders who put the party’s grassroots base ahead of the donor class and articulate a real vision that rejects Donald Trump’s corporate rule—starting with renouncing corporate money themselves.

"Unfortunately, Democratic leadership is failing disastrously to meet this urgent mandate. Ahead of tonight’s forum, the DNC is actively working to silence rank-and-file Democratic activists and base voters calling for a ban on dark money in primaries and the rejection of corporate funding. In a last-minute move, they shut the event off from the public and even deliberately shared the wrong address for where grassroots supporters are allowed to gather.

"Voters—and all Americans—deserve better than two corporate-controlled parties. The election of the next DNC Chair will shape the opposition to Trump’s second term, and we are already seeing glaring red flags from party leaders who are unwilling to part with the ways of the past that ushered in four more years of a would-be tyrant.”

In the weeks following Donald Trump’s November election win, Our Revolution announced the collection of more than 10,000 petition signatures from active grassroots Democratic volunteers, donors, and local and state party leaders demanding widespread reform of the Democratic National Committee. The petition, which was first reported by POLITICO Playbook, specifically calls for Democratic Party leaders to:

• Ban dark money in primaries and reject corporate money
• Invest in state parties and uplift grassroots organizing
• Make the DNC budget transparent and hold consultants accountable
• Commit to a progressive platform & small donor democracy

In the days following Donald Trump’s inauguration, Our Revolution surveyed more than 5,000 of its members nationwide to assess their confidence in the Democratic Party and their reactions to Trump’s actions during the first days of his presidency. Topline findings from the reveal that:

• Only 14% of respondents indicated that they are ‘very confident’ that the Democratic Party and its leaders in Congress, state houses, and city halls will work to block the worst of the Trump agenda.
• Following the inauguration, 43% of respondents said they are angry, and another 40% said they’re feeling worried, scared, or sad.
• 98% of respondents believe that the United States has entered an unprecedented political movement with Trump’s re-election.
• 88% told us they support efforts to transform the Democratic Party into a real opposition party and to get the party to reject corporate money and power. The remaining 12% told us not to bother because they’ve already given up on the Democratic Party (and these are likely voters who are active in politics and anti-Republican — and who have stuck with us as we’ve worked for 8 years to elect Democrats and transform the party).
• 41% want Our Revolution to focus on fighting Trump and the Oligarchs, 32% say we should focus on taking back the Democratic Party from the corporate class, and the remaining 27% say our focus should be on electing progressives who will fight for them.

Here are two of many comments we received sharing similar sentiments of despair and disgust with the Democratic Party:

• “The Democratic Party needs to stop playing nice and fight fire with fire. I’m sick and disgusted today. I am ashamed of our country and the fact that there is no real plan to overhaul the Democratic Party.”
• “I am not motivated to give Democrats money because I don't think they know how to fight effectively and I don't trust them to do what is necessary to effect real change.”

The respondents, a subset of Our Revolution’s grassroots network of approximately 8 million supporters in all 50 states, include rank-in-file Democratic Party activists and base voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors.

Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese is available to comment on the DNC Chair race and the future of progressive activism during Trump’s second term. To request an interview, please contact: media@ourrevolution.com

Donald Trump is reportedly planning to continue his violent crusade aimed at gutting freedom and democracy with an Executive Order today calling for the deportation of non-citizen anti-war activists, with a particular focus on students. This is a vile attempt to sow fear and crush political dissent to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as to further the far-Right’s broader anti-immigrant agenda. Should there be any attempt to enforce this authoritarian, unconstitutional, and violent executive order, we call on elected officials, university administrators, and all people of conscience to boldly reject these orders.
This Executive Order is pulled directly from the pages of the far-Right Heritage Foundation’s “Project Esther” report, which is a blueprint for using the federal government and private institutions to dismantle the Palestine solidarity movement and broader U.S. civil society, under the guise of “fighting antisemitism.” These tactics are built to disrupt the historic movement for Palestinian liberation across the U.S. — including on college campuses — before then using those same tactics to attack a wide range of progressive social justice movements.

The Heritage Foundation, Trump administration, and far-Right forces in this country are the greatest purveyors of antisemitism and violence against Jewish Americans. This Executive Order should be taken as the sham that it is. Trump, the far-Right, and ultra-conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have never protected Jewish people; they are not concerned with Jewish safety, nor do their actions protect Jewish communities. Presidential actions like this Executive Order instrumentalize real concern for Jewish safety as a cudgel to attack fundamental rights and freedom, to shut down Palestinian rights organizing, and to advance the MAGA agenda.

Stefanie Fox, Executive Director Jewish Voice for Peace: “We stand with the student protestors who so bravely put their bodies and academic careers on the line to save lives and demand an end to the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza. As Jews we refuse to be pawns in the far-Right’s authoritarian takeover. Trump and his cronies do not care about Jewish safety — in fact, they and the White Nationalists who support them are themselves the greatest threat to American Jews. They are waging a campaign against all those who are brave enough to challenge their power.”

Benjamin Kersten, a Jewish student at UCLA who joined the student encampment against the Israeli military’s genocide last spring: “This Executive Order has the potential to rip apart our communities, destroy my fellow classmates' lives, and set a precedent that allows for authoritarian attacks on any group that opposes the MAGA agenda. As a Jewish student I refuse to allow my identity to be fuel for fascist crackdown on my fellow students.”

Jonah Rubin, JVP’s Manager of Campus Organizing:“This moment in history requires all of us to stand with young people who cry out for freedom and justice. Every single university president should publicly refuse any and all cooperation with the federal authorities trying to harm their students. This is a historic moment when university administrators must pick a side: Will you collaborate in the federal government's authoritarian assault on students or will you stand up for the fundamental right to free speech?”

Over the last year and a half tens of thousands of students across the country, including many Jewish students, led historic protests calling for an end to the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza. The students bravely endured police violence and draconian punishments from campus administrators, yet were resolute in their calls for safety and freedom for Palestinians. These nonviolent protests represent the preference of a majority of Americans who continue to demand a permanent ceasefire and an end of US-tax payer funding of weapons to the Israeli military. History has shown time and time again to follow the lead of young people. Students were right in demanding an end to the brutal war on Vietnam and were right to pressure their universities to divest from South African apartheid. And history will show that these young people were right to fight against the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians.

Stefanie Fox, Jonah Rubin, Jewish college students and Professors of Jewish history and antisemitism are available for comment

Today, the United States Senate voted to confirm former Congressman Lee Zeldin as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, despite his lack of any real qualifications for the role. In his final year in Congress in 2022, Zeldin earned a paltry 5% on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, which tracks the voting records of members of congress on critical environmental issues.

Zeldin now takes the helm of the EPA in the wake of Trump’s recent executive orders seeking to freeze all federal spending from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:

“The EPA’s stated mission is to protect human health and the environment. In the wake of Donald Trump’s dangerous executive orders and illegal push to freeze all federal funding, the new EPA Administrator will face a decision of whether to carry out the necessary duties of the role, or fold to Trump’s deadly fossil fuel-backed agenda and broken promises. The American people want to breathe clean air and drink clean water. They want a healthy environment for their families today and the future generations of tomorrow. And they want to know that their government is doing everything in its power to protect them from the destructive impacts of the climate crisis that we sadly witness more and more of each day. That is now Lee Zeldin’s charge, and we will do everything in our power to hold him accountable to the American people.”

In his first full day as Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy issued a memo directing U.S. regulators to rescind fuel economy standards put forward under the Biden administration intended to reduce fuel use for cars and trucks. In response, Will Anderson, EV policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:

“As sad as it is, it’s no surprise that climate denier Sean Duffy’s first act at DOT is to advance Trump’s harmful deregulatory agenda and roll back fuel economy standards. Such a rollback would not only hinder consumer choices for more fuel efficient vehicles while putting the U.S. auto industry further behind global competitors, it would raise consumer’s costs when fueling — all to boost oil and gas industry profits.

“In his memo, Duffy directs DOT to roll back fuel economy standards not just in the years ahead but also looking back to vehicles from 2022, despite that the American auto industry has already made investments to meet the existing standards. We should drive forward with fuel-efficient vehicles that are less of a burden on our wallets and less harmful to our lungs, rather than forcing automakers and consumers to reverse course.”

Late yesterday President Trump issued an executive order mandating development of a hugely expensive, unrealistic and counterproductive homeland missile defense system. Comparisons to Israel’s Iron Dome are inaccurate and such a system has a low likelihood of success, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Below is a statement by Dr. Laura Grego, research director and senior scientist for the Global Security Program at UCS.

“President Trump’s vision of an Iron Dome over America is a fantasy. The apparent successes of Israel’s Iron Dome system are not relevant to US homeland defense. Iron Dome defends small areas from short-range nonnuclear missiles. It’s a vastly easier task than defending the whole country against missiles that travel 100 times further and seven times faster than those Iron Dome is built for. Homeland missile defense requires an entirely different kind of defense, and because ICBMs carry nuclear-armed missiles, it needs to be very reliable and effective. Invoking Iron Dome is just marketing, trying to manufacture credibility for something that has never worked.

“Over the last 60 years, the United States has spent more than $350 billion on efforts to develop a defense against nuclear-armed ICBMs. This effort has been plagued by false starts and failures, and none have yet been demonstrated to be effective against a real-world threat. A UCS-MIT technical analysis found that even a less-developed country such as North Korea could use long-understood countermeasures to fool midcourse defenses like the current homeland defense system, the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system. Proposals to get around those weaknesses by building space-based missile defenses have repeatedly been abandoned because they are expensive, very technically challenging, and readily defeated. Trump’s idea of a space-based missile defense is a bad investment.

“Longstanding US policy has been to focus on defense against a small number of missiles from a non-peer state like North Korea because trying to build a defense against the missile arsenals of an advanced state like Russia is technically unachievable, economically ruinous and strategically unwise. Russia and China already appear to be building new types of weapons with the purpose of defeating or avoiding missile defenses. Missile defenses are not a useful or long-term strategy for keeping the US safe from nuclear weapons.

“What President Trump gets absolutely right is that nuclear weapons present a catastrophic threat, and that as he said in Davos, nuclear disarmament is an urgent priority and is achievable. That is where the United States should be putting its efforts.”

As one of his first acts after being confirmed by the Senate as Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy signed a memo to direct a reconsideration and indicate his support for a rollback of national fuel economy standards that make vehicles– including cars, light-duty trucks, and heavy-duty trucks– more fuel efficient.

NHTSA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, known as CAFE standards, set requirements for how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. NHTSA is charged with reducing America's reliance on oil and saving drivers money at the pump. A strong CAFE standard can help the U.S. substantially reduce our dependence on oil over the long term.

Eliminating this program will cost consumers more money at the pump. Consumer Reports’ Q4 2024 survey showed two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) agree that the U.S. government should continue to increase fuel economy standards.

In response, Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign, released the following statement:

“These common-sense, popular fuel economy standards save drivers money at the pump and reduce dangerous pollution from vehicles. Drivers spend excessive amounts of money to fuel their cars, and it’s often a large part of household expenses. Wasting no time at all as the new Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy is selling American families out to Big Oil, burdening us with higher fuel prices and more polluting gas-guzzlers that harm our health.”

In response to the executive actions announced by US President Trump, including calling for mass deportations, declaring a national emergency and an invasion, militarizing the US-Mexico border, reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols (better known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy), ending asylum at the border, and shutting down the CBP One mobile application, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said the following:

The executive actions adopted by President Trump severely impact the rights of people seeking safety and place countless lives at risk, fabricating non-existing threats to expand militarization, externalization of borders, generalized use of immigration detention, expedited removals and criminalization of migrant rights defenders
-Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International

“The executive actions adopted by President Trump severely impact the rights of people seeking safety and place countless lives at risk, fabricating non-existing threats to expand militarization, externalization of borders, generalized use of immigration detention, expedited removals and criminalization of migrant rights defenders. These policies make it near impossible for individuals to seek asylum in the United States and will result in thousands of people being forcibly returned to places where their lives or safety are at risk. President Trump is also calling for the use of criminal prosecutions for people crossing irregularly into the United States, a policy that resulted in the mass separations of families during Trump’s first term. To this day, there are families – mostly from Central America – who have still not been reunited from the first iteration of this cruel policy.

The United States is also pressuring countries to accept deportation flights with individuals that are not nationals of those countries and threatening sanctions on those countries that refuse. All these policies have implications for countries throughout the Americas, continuing the troubling trend of the United States entering into bilateral agreements aimed at deterring migration.

As the United States becomes increasingly unsafe for asylum seekers, the Canadian government must withdraw from the agreement immediately
-Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International

The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States bars most people crossing into Canada via the United States from seeking refugee protection in Canada, and vice versa. The agreement has forced individuals to attempt dangerous border crossings and has pushed people underground in order to seek safety. As the United States becomes increasingly unsafe for asylum seekers, the Canadian government must withdraw from the agreement immediately

The United States and Mexico jointly implemented the Migrant Protection Protocols – known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy – that trapped asylum seekers in camps along the US-Mexico border where they were at serious risk of human rights violations, with thousands of reports of people being assaulted, raped, kidnapped, and extorted. Amnesty International is calling on Mexico not to participate in any reiteration of the “Remain in Mexico” policy.

The Mexican government must urgently adopt measures to ensure the safety and security of those who had been waiting in Mexico for CPB One appointments, including allowing them to apply for international protection in Mexico and travel freely throughout the country
-Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International

“The shutdown of the CBP One application has created an insurmountable barrier for approximately 270,000 vulnerable individuals attempting to seek safety in the United States. They are now stranded in Mexico with no clear pathway to protection. Following the termination of CBP One, the Mexican government must urgently adopt measures to ensure the safety and security of those who had been waiting in Mexico for CPB One appointments, including allowing them to apply for international protection in Mexico and travel freely throughout the country”.

The United States must instead respond to this moment of global displacement with funding and policies of welcome, to respond to the crisis with policies that are humane rather than those that hurt.

Amnesty International calls on the governments of the region to refrain from participating in policies that undermine the rights and dignity of those seeking safety
-Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International

President Trump will only be able to implement his harmful policies if countries in the Americas agree to play along. As the members states of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) meet urgently this Thursday to discuss migration, Amnesty International calls on the governments of the region to refrain from participating in policies that undermine the rights and dignity of those seeking safety.”

Ahead of Howard Lutnick’s Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. Commerce Secretary, new analyses from government watchdog Accountable.US – first reported by the Financial Times – detail how the billionaire’s massive interests in cryptocurrency, massive computer chipmaker Nvidia, and the satellite industry pose seemingly unavoidable conflicts of interests given the sprawling Department’s oversight, rules, and research of each of these industries. At the center of these conflicts is Lutnick’s financial services company, Cantor Fitzgerald, and its financial entanglements. While Lutnick claims he will divest from his business empire, he is reportedly so deeply “entwined” with Cantor that dozens of current and former employees and associates told Bloomberg “his grip on his various businesses is bolted tight” and “his knot of conflicts is unlikely to loosen easily.”

“Billionaire Howard Lutnick is so inextricably tied up in his financial services company that his claims to divest from potential Commerce Department business means little in practical terms, especially when two of his children still work for his firm,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. “Lutnick conveniently did not rule out that his children would take stakes in the conflicted companies when he leaves for the administration- conflicts of interest that would loom over the department and could cost everyday consumers.

“Take, for example, Lutnick’s company’s giant investment in cryptocurrency and how, as Commerce Secretary, he would be poised to help write federal crypto rules and potentially manipulate research to benefit himself, his family, partners, and friends on Wall Street,” added Carrk. “Given how virtually impossible it would be for Lutnick to avoid such conflicts, senators should demand the fine details on how he would do so. Rich corporate special interests getting the insider edge over the needs of everyday Americans are quickly coming to define the Trump administration.”

WHAT SENATORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LUTNICK’S POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:

• Crypto Conflicts: Previous reporting revealed Lutnick’s financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald has a major partnership with giant cryptocurrency firm Tether, in which Cantor holds about $600 million and with which Cantor joined a new $2 billion lending project in November 2024. Lutnick is known as a vocal advocate of cryptocurrencies, including statements at an industry conference that the leading form of crypto, bitcoin, should be accepted “‘without exception and without limitation.” Accountable.US’ new analysis found Lutnick’s vast stakes in the crypto industry could conflict with his potential control of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which plays a central role in developing crypto regulations and in researching crypto technologies.
• Chipmaker Conflicts: Accountable.US research has found that—despite Lutnick’s reputation as a “China hawk”— Cantor Fitzgerald’s nearly $1.2 billion investment in major artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia could pose a conflict of interest with Lutnick’s potential role enforcing trade restrictions against China as Commerce Secretary. Notably, the Biden Commerce Department issued a “dramatic last-minute” rule to protect national security and competitiveness by blocking China’s “back door” efforts to obtain advanced artificial intelligence chips made by Nvidia and others.
• Satellite Industry Conflicts: Accountable.US found Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald’s deep interests in the commercial space industry could pose specific conflicts with the Commerce Department while also benefiting his “close” ally and fellow billionaire Elon Musk.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

• FACT SHEET on Howard Lutnick Ahead of Senate Confirmation Hearing for the Position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce

Alex Ault, policy counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law released the following statement in anticipation of the Senate Judiciary Committee convening January 29th to vote whether to advance President Donald Trump's attorney general nominee, Pamela Bondi to the full Senate:

“There can be no justice without truth. Ms. Bondi has an egregious history of making misleading statements to support partisan attacks on our elections at the expense of Black voters. She personally parroted false election fraud claims in legal briefs and the media that were roundly rejected by both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Her attempts to actively usurp democracy by overturning the 2020 election, and refusal to directly answer questions about her ability to impartially administer justice at her confirmation hearing make it crystal clear that she is unable to lead the Department of Justice equally and fairly. We urge Senators to reject her nomination.

Included in the mission of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is a commitment to uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights. The Department was founded in part as a response to the lack of enforcement of civil rights laws following the Civil War and to ensure equal protection under the law. This includes making real the promise of the 14th and 15th Amendments by protecting the rights of Black Americans to equality and voting access. If the Senate entrusts the leadership of the Justice department to someone with a track record of sacrificing the truth and the law to political favoritism, it risks jeopardizing the Department’s duty and responsibility to protect Americans from all forms of discrimination.”