Lutnick's sons ran Cantor Fitzgerald as it explored buying tariff refund rights while he shaped tariff policy

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Feb. 20, 2026, that Trump's IEEPA tariffs exceeded presidential authority. Chief Justice JRJohn Roberts wrote for the majority that IEEPA's text contained no reference to tariffs or duties. Justices Gorsuch and Barrett joined three liberal justices in the majority; Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito dissented.

HLHoward Lutnick, founder of Cantor Fitzgerald, was confirmed as Commerce Secretary in February 2025. His sons BLBrandon Lutnick (chairman) and KLKyle Lutnick (executive vice chairman) assumed leadership of the firm. Lutnick was required to recuse from matters involving 106 corporate entities upon taking office.

Wired reported in July 2025 that a Cantor investment banking salesman sent an email claiming the firm had already put a trade through representing about $10 million of tariff-refund rights. The reported business model: Cantor buys an importer's legal claim to a future tariff refund at 20-30 cents on the dollar and collects the full refund if courts strike down the tariffs.

Cantor Fitzgerald's spokesman said the salesman erroneously believed the firm had approved the tariff-refund business and denied executing any such trades. After the Supreme Court ruling, Cantor stated it had never executed any transactions or taken risk on the legality of tariffs.

On Aug. 13, 2025, Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren sent a formal letter to BLBrandon Lutnick demanding documents about the reported tariff-refund trades, warning the conduct raised obvious conflict-of-interest and insider dealing concerns given Commerce Secretary Lutnick's role shaping tariff policy.

Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated the government had collected $133.5 billion in IEEPA tariff revenue by December 2025 and projected total IEEPA exposure at approximately $175 billion. The refund process was remanded to the Court of International Trade; TD Securities estimated refunds would take 12-18 months to process.

Treasury Secretary SBScott Bessent said on Fox News after the ruling that tariff refunds would be the ultimate corporate welfare, arguing importers who passed tariff costs to consumers would keep refunds while consumers saw no benefit. He also said backup tariff authorities under Sections 122, 232, and 301 would keep 2026 tariff revenue virtually unchanged.