According to historian and writer Heather Cox Richardson, there’s “an old saying about how a democratic system taken over by a single party quickly becomes corrupt because the ruling party lacks oversight….[which]… describes what’s happening in Trump’s orbit now.”
In addition to Trump’s regulatory rollbacks and opening millions of acres in Alaska to mining, for the first time in U.S. history, the President of the United States is overseeing corruption on a massive scale related to critical-mineral mining. Beginning in 2025, the administration decided that traditional tools such as loans, grants, purchase agreements, and loan guarantees were insufficient to increase mining to support an unprecedented military buildup and enrich Trump’s billionaire friends. As a result, it has greatly expanded the use of national-security authorizations, including the Defense Production Act (DPA), to dramatically increase U.S. production of critical minerals such as rare earth elements, lithium, graphite, and other materials used in batteries, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing technology.
As part of this process, the administration is using taxpayer dollars to acquire equity stakes in private mining and mineral-processing companies, including MP Materials, Lithium Americas, USA Rare Earth, and the Canadian company, Trilogy Metals. Similarly, more than three dozen countries (plus the EU) have announced or completed various types of deals. A report released by Public Citizens in August entitled “Untangling Trump’s Web of Secretive, Exploitative, and Potentially Corrupt Minerals Agreements,” documents:
Also, as a regulator of the industry and an owner/investor in specific companies, the administration has created institutional conflicts of interest on an unprecedented scale. During the Critical Minerals Roundtable at the State Department in August, for example, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised the One Big Beautiful Bill that included a $1.4 billion in taxpayer funded purchase of a piece of the Vulcan Elements mining company. According to Earthworks, that purchase and other taxpayer-financed minerals “deals” have enriched top Administration officials and their family members, including Secretary Lutnick’s son.
Further, according to a report released by Public Citizens in August, compared “to more powerful countries, countries that depend on exporting to the U.S., that are facing high tariffs, or that seek U.S. security protections amid violent conflict were forced into deals full of onerous obligations that diminish their sovereign control over their resources.”
Consistent with other low-profile dealings, the administration has failed to provide sufficient public disclosure regarding the legal basis, selection criteria, and conflict-of-interest protections associated with the investments. Because equity investments rise or fall with a company’s value, taxpayers effectively become investors in the deals purchased with public funds. If the companies perform poorly, taxpayers bear losses.
According to Nghia Nguyen, Research Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, this “chaotic mess of coercive trade deals, frameworks, MOUs, and action plans – and how they lead to billions of taxpayer dollars going to shady deals – should raise serious concerns to policymakers.”
This is why Congressional Democrats have been asking for investigations into the use of taxpayer funds to purchase in mining companies, including $8.9B in investments tied to President Trump’s and Secretary Lutnick’s family members. This includes alleged insider trading, like investments made by Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm just days before the Government’s announcement of a $620 million loan to Vulcan Elements, and the Energy Fuels company’s uranium claims that will be opened up by the President’s decision to shrink the Bear Ears National Monument.
But these investigations have not gained traction because congressional Republicans have refused to provide oversight of the administration’s conflicts of interest in regulating the mining sector. The only way such oversight will occur is to replace them with Democrats or independents like Mary Peltola and Bill Hill, who have already spoken out about corruption and how their incumbent opponents have turned a blind eye.
Please vote on or before November 3rd.