Tracker: Trump Appointees’ Corporate Conflicts of Interest
Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet positions and other important political appointments are riddled with conflicts of interest. As was the case with Trump’s first administration, his second administration appears to be handing people with clear corporate conflicts of interest the power to regulate and oversee corporations.
Public Citizen is following the money — and holding them accountable.
| Name | Agency | Title | Prior Employment | Former Clients/Business Interests | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Bernhardt | Transition Team | N/A | Chair of the Center for American Freedom at America First Policy Institute; Interior Secretary under Trump, lawyer for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck | Bernhardt’s previous lobbying clients included oil & gas and resource extraction interests Cobalt International Energy, Samson Resources, the Rosemont Copper open pit mine in Arizona, and the Cadiz Inc. groundwater pumping project in California. He also represented the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Haliburton Energy Services as legal clients. | See More |
| Doug Burgum | Department of the Interior | Secretary | Billionaire, former software company exec (sold to Microsoft), real estate investor | Burgum is a close ally of billionaire oil and gas executive Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources. His family has leased land to Continental Resources. | See More |
| Sean Duffy | Department of Transportation | Secretary | BGR Group | Duffy has been a lobbyist for Partnership for Open Skies (inc. America, Delta, United), Polaris Industries | See more |
| Howard Lutnick | Department of Commerce | Secretary | Cantor Fitzgerald | Lutnik has ties to the crypto industry (Tether) and the financial exchange FMX. Lutnick has already been accused of mixing his business interests and transition duties. | See more |
| Linda McMahon | Department of Education (expected) | Secretary | Trump's first Small Business Association Administrator; chair of the board of the America First Policy Institute, a right wing think tank focused on enacting Trump's agenda; chair of the pro-Trump America First Action SuperPAC | WWE: As Trump’s SBA Administrator in 2017, McMahon and her husband made at least $100 million off “dividends, interest on investments and sales of stocks and bonds." | See more |
| Elon Musk | Department of Government Efficiency | Co-Director | Billionaire entrepreneur (Tesla, X, SpaceX, Neuralink) | Himself, the companies he owns (several of which are under federal investigation) | See more |
| Andrew Wheeler | Transition Team | N/A | EPA Secretary under Trump; Director of the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management under Gov. Glenn Youngkin; Lobbyist for Faegre Baker Daniels | Wheeler has business ties to Murray Energy, Nuclear Energy Institute, Whirlpool Corp, Sargento Foods and chemical company Celanese Corp. | See more |
| Susie Wiles | White House | Chief of Staff | Lobbyist, Mercury Public Affairs (Feb. 2022-Nov. 2024); Lobbyist/Managing Partner, Ballard Partners (2011-Sept. 2019); Trump Presidential Campaigns | Wiles has been registered to lobby on behalf of 42 clients including corporations, govt. contractors, and a foreign political party. Some examples: Republic Services, Pebble Partnership-Northern Dynasty Minerals, and Swisher tobacco company. As Chief of Staff, she'll be in a position to influence permits, approvals, and contracts that her former lobbying clients paid her to lobby for. | See more |
| Chris Wright | Department of Energy | Secretary | Liberty Energy CEO | Wright has extensive business connections in the oil & gas and fracking sectors. | See more |