US: Lutnick To Deliver Testimony To Senate Appropriations Committee Shortly

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is shortly due to deliver testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee on President Donald Trump's FY26 budget request for the Department of Commerce. LIVESTREAM

• The testimony comes after Trump signed a proclamation yesterday raising the tariff on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%, effective as of 00:01 ET 05:01 BST this morning (Wednesday, June 4).
• The proclamation said: “Although the previously imposed steel and aluminum tariffs have helped provide critical price support … they have not yet enabled these industries to develop and maintain capacity [required for] national defense needs.”
• Republicans and Democrats alike on the Appropriations panel are likely to grill Lutnick on the status of the ‘90 trade deals in 90 days’ that Trade Counsellor Peter Navarro promised shortly after Trump agreed to pause his ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on April 9.
• At 14:00 ET 19:00 BST, OMB Director Russell Vought will testify on Trump’s FY26 budget request for the OMB before the House Appropriations Committee. Expect fireworks from Democrats on the panel, who view Vought as the primary driver behind Trump’s plans to dismantle the federal bureaucracy.