WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to appoint Howard Lutnick, a top transition adviser and financial services billionaire, to lead the Commerce Department, according to two sources familiar with the process.

The CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald has led Trump’s transition and has been its public face.

It is not yet clear what his selection for a cabinet post would mean for his role in the future transition.

As co-chair of Trump’s transition, Lutnick has been an outspoken advocate for Trump’s agenda, including explaining how he plans to use tariffs once in office. Lutnick is the CEO and chairman of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald. The Commerce Department will play a key role in implementing some of Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods imported into the United States.

Lutnick has been with Cantor Fitzgerald since the early 1980s, when he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania with a degree in economics. Lutnick suffered tremendous personal tragedy at a young age, losing his mother while still in high school, and then his father during his first week of college. Lutnick was working at Cantor Fitzgerald when terrorists attacked the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the company’s headquarters, on September 11. Hundreds of Cantor Fitzgerald employees, including Lutnick’s brother, were killed.

After the attacks, Lutnick became an outspoken advocate for business as New York worked to rebuild.

The commerce secretary’s announcement follows days of speculation about who could fill the remaining top positions in Trump’s new administration, including Treasury secretary, for which Lutnick was seen as a leading candidate. Lutnick’s pick was first reported by Punchbowl News.

A transition official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is still unknown who Trump will select to lead the Treasury Department, a role for which Lutnick received public support last weekend from Elon Musk, the billionaire who was recently appointed head of a new Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk has been a near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since the election, demonstrating his close bond with Trump.