Trump said Lutnick will lead the “tariff and trade agenda,” an important role for president-elect, who has vowed to aggressively wield tariffs. Lutnick is a veteran of Wall Street and current CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company.

“I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce,” Trump said in a statement. “In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.”

Trump has argued that tariffs can be used to bring in major revenue for the U.S., pressure nations around the world to comply with U.S. economic demands, and improve the job market in the U.S.

Lutnick has publicly promoted tariffs in the media, explaining how they can be a tool in negotiations with other countries, many of whom currently tariff U.S. products, pointing out for instance that 100% tariffs in Europe and Japan prevent U.S. automakers from selling in other countries. Many economists question whether higher tariffs will drive elevated inflation in the U.S.

Trump is daily announcing new picks for his administration.

So far, Trump’s choices include:

• Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce.
• Sean Duffy to lead the Department of Transportation.
• Chris Wright for Department of Energy Secretary.
• Brendan Carr to lead the Federal Communications Commission.
• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior.
• William Owen Scharf as Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of U.S. Health and Human Services
• Former Congresswoman and veteran Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.
• Former Congressman Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• Jay Clayton as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Former congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.
• Veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
• Veteran and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as Secretary of State.
• Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan as “border czar.”
• Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• Former Congresswoman and current governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.
• William Joseph McGinley as White House Counsel.
• Steven C. Witkoff as Special Envoy to the Middle East.
• Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. as national security advisor.
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel.
• Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. as ambassador to the U.N.
• Dean John Sauer as Solicitor General.
• Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General.
• Emil Bove as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
• Dan Scavino of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff.
• Susie Wiles, co-chair of the Trump campaign, as White House Chief of Staff.
• Stephen Miller as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor.
• James Blair of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs.
• Taylor Budowich of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel.

The libertarian Cato Institute released the report, which graded states by spending, revenue and taxes. The top ten states in the rankings starting at the top are Iowa, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, Georgia, Idaho, and Vermont.

The bottom ten states, according to the analysis, are New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Delaware, Washington, Maine, New York and lastly, Minnesota.

The bottom six states received a grade of “F.”

Walz’ poor rating comes just weeks before the presidential election where he and his running mate Vice President Kamala Harris are in a nearly tied race with former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

The report explains the reasoning for Walz’ low score, pointing to a series of tax hikes under his leadership as well as spending increasing by 36% since 2022, from from about $52 billion to nearly $71 billion.

From the report:

In 2019, Walz’s budget would have added ‘$2 billion more in new spending and taxes would increase by $1.3 billion to pay for it, with the rest of the money coming from an existing surplus.’ But he compromised with the legislature, and the final tax increase was about $330 million annually. Walz also pushed for higher gas taxes and higher vehicle fees to raise about $1 billion annually for transportation, but those increases were rejected.

Walz pushed for more tax hikes in 2021. He proposed adding a new individual income tax rate of 10.85 percent above the current top rate of 9.85 percent, a surtax on capital gains and dividends, and a hike to the corporate tax rate from 9.8 percent to 11.25 percent. The proposals—which would have raised about $1.6 billion annually—were rejected by the legislature…

Walz hit the middle class with HF 2887, which raised taxes and fees on vehicles and transportation. The increases included indexing the gas tax for inflation, increasing vehicle registration taxes, raising fees on deliveries, and raising sales taxes in the Twin Cities area.

The National Federation of Independent businesses on Monday released the survey, which showed small business uncertainty rose last month to the highest level ever recorded by NFIB.

“Small business owners are feeling more uncertain than ever,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.

Small businesses have been crushed by inflation in recent years, with prices rising more than 20% since President Joe Biden took office. Pandemic-era shutdowns and supply chain issues also put many businesses in debt or drained their savings.

Many larger businesses had more reserves or access to capital to help them survive COVID while smaller businesses went under.

“Twenty-three percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs), down one point from August but remaining the top issue,” NFIB said.

Inflation has slowed from its feverish pace earlier in Biden’s term, but prices remain elevated.

“A net negative 17% of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reported higher nominal sales in the past three months, down one point from August and the lowest reading of this year,” NFIB said. “The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose nine points to a net negative 9% (seasonally adjusted).”

Small business owners have also reported difficulty with the labor market.

“Uncertainty makes owners hesitant to invest in capital spending and inventory, especially as inflation and financing costs continue to put pressure on their bottom lines,” Dunkelberg continued. “Although some hope lies ahead in the holiday sales season, many Main Street owners are left questioning whether future business conditions will improve.”