Jared Kushner’s Ever-Expanding White House Job Now Includes Criminal Justice Reform
Image by Getty Images
Among his many titles, Jared Kushner has been charged with one more: talking out criminal justice reform with lawmakers.
BuzzFeed reports that the president’s son-in-law is discussing legislation to reformm criminal justice with Sens. Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat Thursday. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, joined the meeting with Grassley, according to BuzzFeed.
Last Congress, lawmakers proposed a bill aimed at lowering mass incarceration by reducing mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders and investing in programs to help ex-offenders integrate into society. That legislation stalled, but BuzzFeed reports that Kushner’s meeting with senators might indicate a renewed interest from the White House.
Kushner’s briefcase is already full – he is nominally in charge of brokering a Middle East peace deal, and he was also tapped to head an innovation office tasked with bringing business solutions to problems including veteran care and opioid addiction. He is also facing investigation for his contacts with a Russian bank under Western economic sanctions.
The satirical newspaper The Onion quipped that an overworked Kushner had “quietly moved” resolving the Middle East crisis “to his to-do list for next week.”
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
