Kitchen Junk Drawer Leadership?!

Comparison:

It is, as one [Howard] Lutnick adviser told me, ‘a junk drawer for everything under the sun, from red snapper to wind to ships to artificial intelligence—you name it.‘

Writer Antonia Hitchens captures a honest, humble, homely comparison that attempts to evoke the range of different responsibilities held by government agencies within the Department of Commerce. Is your kitchen junk drawer this complex?

Context:

The Department of Commerce, an agency with fifty thousand employees and thirteen bureaus, manages a vast and varied portfolio: the National Weather Service, the Census Bureau, the Patent and Trademark Office. It is, as one [Howard] Lutnick adviser told me, ‘a junk drawer for everything under the sun, from red snapper to wind to ships to artificial intelligence—you name it.‘ But Lutnick sees himself primarily as the President’s dealmaker-in-chief. Lately, this has meant fielding pleas from companies and countries seeking relief from Trump’s tariffs, which the department sets and helps to enforce.

Citation:

Hitchens, Antonia. “Money Talks.“ New Yorker, 28 July 2025, p. 36.

(Image courtesy of Bing, Oct. 2025.)