January 29, 2025

Duckworth Pressed Commerce Department Nominee Howard Lutnick on Trump’s Dangerous Pause on Federal Grants That Would Jeopardize U.S. Trade and Innovation

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST)—pressed Howard Lutnick, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce, on whether he would obey an illegal order from President Trump, such as following through on the President’s dangerous freeze of billions in federal grant funding. In her remarks, Duckworth underscored that the chaos and confusion caused by pausing these legally obligated funds to grant recipients would ultimately make America less globally competitive, stifle innovation and hurt businesses and jobs. Duckworth’s full remarks can be found on the Senator’s YouTube.

“Businesses, tech hubs and other grant recipients should not have to tune in each week to learn whether the funding Congress appropriated for them will actually come through,” said Duckworth. “I made it clear to Mr. Lutnick that this kind of chaos that President Trump unleashed will make America less globally competitive, not more. Any Secretary of Commerce must understand how critical it is that grant funding is disbursed on time, without delay, to support our farmers, boost manufacturing and keep our economy strong.”

Duckworth highlighted that the Economic Development Administration recently awarded $51 million to the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub, which would support its work to strengthen American innovation and ensure our country remains a global leader in the agricultural sector while growing good-paying jobs across the Midwest. This is just one example of the many kinds of critical grants the Department of Commerce is in charge of distributing.

Duckworth is a proven leader in securing international investments that drive commerce and job growth in Illinois—all while strengthening economic ties with Indo-Pacific nations and improving security in the region. As a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Duckworth led a bipartisan delegation of her Senate colleagues to Taiwan last year to further enhance our bilateral economic ties, including deepening our trade ties on chip manufacturing and agricultural investments.

In 2023, Duckworth traveled to Japan where she met with government, trade and economic leaders as well as corporate and business officials to highlight how Illinois is uniquely positioned for greater investment and increased exports with international partners as a hub of agriculture manufacturing and technology. Specifically, Duckworth advocated on behalf of Illinois farmers to increase Japan's importation of ethanol, corn, soybean, pork and other goods. As a result of her advocacy, Duckworth also helped secure Japan’s open market to all U.S. biofuels as well as Japan’s commitment to double Japan’s ethanol imports from the U.S. by 2030.

Duckworth also led an official visit to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to meet with government and business leaders and discuss opportunities that would increase cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as economic investments, regional stability and national security. In 2022, Duckworth led a Congressional delegation to Taiwan and South Korea to help strengthen economic ties between our people, specifically highlighting how Illinois is uniquely positioned for greater investment and increased exports with international partners as a hub of agriculture, manufacturing and technology.

Duckworth championed the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in 2022, providing $500 million to expand the number of service stations that offer low-carbon ethanol and biodiesel, made from Illinois corn and soybeans and also has incentives to make these low-carbon biofuels even lower-carbon than today. These climate-smart investments in Midwestern-grown fuels will also reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

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