Democrats Push Watchdog Review of Lutnick’s Data Center Ties

Democratic lawmakers are asking a federal watchdog to take a closer look at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s role in promoting a nationwide buildout of artificial intelligence data centers and whether those efforts could be padding his family businesses’ bottom line.

In a letter sent Thursday, 25 lawmakers from the House and Senate urged the Commerce Department’s inspector general to review potential conflicts, the New York Times reported. The publication previously probed overlaps between Lutnick’s official actions and projects connected to Cantor Fitzgerald and Newmark, firms he once led and later handed off to his children.

The request, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, zeroes in on the explosive growth of AI data centers, a sector that has become one of the hottest corners of commercial real estate.

Lawmakers argue the energy-intensive facilities are driving up power costs for households and businesses, amplifying the public stakes.

“There is a substantial public interest in ensuring that Secretary Lutnick… is not violating federal ethics law to propel data centers that will be profitable for his family,” the letter said.

Lutnick has repeatedly championed U.S. data center investment in international trade talks. During tariff negotiations, he pushed South Korea to invest billions in American industry; Cantor and Newmark later helped finance a proposed AI data center in Amarillo, Texas. Lutnick also appeared publicly alongside executives tied to the project.

In Pennsylvania, Lutnick touted private investment in data centers during a July appearance with Donald Trump. Weeks later, Newmark announced it had brokered a $4 billion joint venture for an AI data center campus at one of the sites mentioned.

Commerce Department officials have said Lutnick had no direct role in those projects and complied with all ethics requirements. The White House echoed that position, and Cantor has denied any improper influence.

Newmark alone has completed more than $25 billion in data center transactions over the past year, underscoring how lucrative the sector has become for brokers and financiers.

Lawmakers are asking the inspector general to determine if Lutnick properly recused himself, if his ethics waiver was enforced and if his office communicated with family members about data center deals.

Lutnick transferred control of Cantor and its affiliated companies to his children after joining the Trump administration, but divestment was not completed until October. In the interim, he received an ethics waiver allowing him to participate in broad policy matters that could benefit the firms, while barring involvement in specific deals.

— Holden Walter-Warner