March 19, 2025

Commerce Secretary Lutnick urged Fox News viewers to buy Tesla stock as Musk led DOGE

During a March 19, 2025 Fox News appearance, in which he was identified on screen by his official title, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged viewers to buy Tesla stock as the company's shares slid amid backlash over CEO Elon Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Federal ethics rules bar executive-branch officials from using their office or title to endorse a product or company. Within 48 hours, a House Oversight Committee ranking member opened an investigation and the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint, each citing the same rule.

Jurisdiction: Federal
Location: Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

Howard Lutnick (U.S. Secretary of Commerce)

On March 19, 2025, during an evening appearance on Fox News in which he was identified on screen by his official title, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged viewers to buy Tesla stock. The pitch came as Tesla shares slid amid public backlash over CEO Elon Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Federal ethics regulations at 5 C.F.R. 2635.702 bar executive-branch officials from using their public office or title to endorse any product, service, or enterprise.

The endorsement drew rapid objection from both a congressional oversight body and a nonpartisan watchdog, each citing the same regulation. Observers compared the episode to the 2017 case in which White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was found to have violated ethics rules by promoting Ivanka Trump's brand on television.

Updates

2025-03-20 — House Oversight ranking member opened an investigation [3]

On March 20, 2025, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly opened an investigation into the endorsement, citing the federal rule against officials using their office to endorse a product and setting an April 3, 2025 document deadline.

2025-03-21 — Campaign Legal Center filed an ethics complaint [2]

On March 21, 2025, the Campaign Legal Center filed a formal ethics complaint with the Office of Government Ethics and Commerce Department ethics officials, citing 5 C.F.R. 2635.702 and drawing a comparison to the 2017 Conway precedent.

Why we recorded this

Government officials are barred from using their public office to endorse private products, a rule that keeps the authority of the state separate from private commercial interests. Speaking as Commerce Secretary and identified on screen by his title, Howard Lutnick urged television viewers to buy the stock of a specific company whose CEO held a formal government role, lending official weight to a private financial pitch. Recording this documents when officials convert public position into promotion of a particular firm, eroding the norm that public power serves the public rather than private business.

Sources

'Buy Tesla,' Commerce chief Lutnick urges as Musk leads DOGE for Trump administration — CNBC investigative accessed July 9, 2026
Campaign Legal Center files complaint against U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — Campaign Legal Center primary accessed July 9, 2026
Ranking Member Connolly Launches Investigation Into Commerce Secretary's Unlawful Promotion of Plummeting Tesla Stock on Live Television — House Oversight Committee Democrats primary accessed July 9, 2026
Elon Musk's Tesla falls after Commerce secretary urges Americans to buy stock — Axios secondary accessed July 9, 2026