Jared Kushner Gets Green Light for White House Position
(JTA) — U.S. President Donald Trump can appoint his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner as a White House senior adviser, the Justice Department concluded.
The Justice Department issued its 14-page opinion on Friday, according to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Council.
The office said that a federal anti-nepotism law passed in 1967 “does not bar this appointment because of the President’s special hiring authority.” This opinion is based on a law passed in 1978 which gives the president the authority to appoint White House officials, overriding the nepotism law.
The opinion was written by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel Koffsky.
The anti-nepotism law reportedly was put in place since after President John F. Kennedy named his brother, Robert, attorney general, in order to prevent a president from nominating or appointing close family, including in-laws, to administration positions.
Kushner, an Orthodox Jew who married Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, was named by the president a senior White House adviser, his transition team announced earlier this month. Kushner, a wealthy businessman and real estate developer, served as a top confidante to Trump during the campaign. He reportedly will not take money for his work.
It is possible for Kushner’s appointment to be challenged in court, though it would have to be by someone who can show they were harmed by the appointment, according to Politico. The Justice Department’s opinion does not have standing in court.
Trump said in recent interviews that Kushner would work to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and expressed confidence that he would be successful.
Trump’s endorsement of Kushner for Middle East peace negotiator follows a series of statements in which Trump expressed confidence in Kushner’s abilities in that capacity.
“Jared is such a good kid and he’ll make a deal with Israel that no one else can — you know he’s a natural, he’s a great deal, he’s a natural — you know what I was talking about, natural — he’s a natural deal-maker — everyone likes him,” Trump said in an interview earlier this month in The Times of London and Bild.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump reportedly will be moving to a home in Washington, D.C., in the tony Kalorama neighborhood.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
