Jared Kushner, the Jewish son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump and a key campaign adviser, is considering counseling Trump without a salary to work around federal anti-nepotism laws, according to reports.
The Associated Press and other media reported Nov. 14 that Kushner, 35, is exploring the legality of staying on as an unpaid adviser when Trump assumes the presidency.
Laws in place since after President John F. Kennedy named his brother Robert attorney general ban a president from nominating or appointing close family, including in-laws, to administration positions.
Kushner, an Orthodox Jew, is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and has helped shape Trump’s Israel policies, which shifted over the campaign from cool to embracing the positions of the right-wing pro-Israel community, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and tamping down criticism of settlements.
Ivanka Trump has said she would not work in a Trump administration, though she is part of her father’s presidential transition team, along with Kushner and her two brothers, Eric and Donald Jr.
The 16-member transition team also includes advisers known for their closeness both to the right-wing pro-Israel community and to Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who is a major pro-Israel donor and backed Trump’s campaign with tens of millions of dollars.
One of the team members is Steven Mnuchin, a longtime banker who was finance chairman of the campaign and, like Kushner, is a scion of one of New York’s best-known Jewish families. — jta
Potential Cabinet members include friends of Israel
Last week, RespectAbility, a disability advocacy group, posted what it said was an internal Donald Trump transition team document titled “Trump Cabinet Possibilities.” The list, which was posted Nov. 10, comports with media reports of people being considered for Cabinet positions.
Steven Mnuchin, a longtime banker who was finance chairman of the campaign, is being considered for the post of secretary of the treasury. He is Jewish.
Other figures who are close to the right-wing pro-Israel community include Newt Gingrich (secretary of state or secretary of health and human services) and Rudy Giuliani (attorney general or secretary of state).
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (secretary of agriculture) ran for president in 2008 and made his support for Israel central to his campaign, including an emphasis on recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — a move Trump has pledged he would make.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (secretary of agriculture or commerce) has close ties to the community of Republican Jewish donors.
Financier Lewis Eisenberg (secretary of commerce) was one of a small cadre of Republican Jewish Coalition board members who did not run away from the Trump candidacy and was a major contributor to the campaign.
John Bolton (secretary of state) has long been revered in the pro-Israel community for his role in the United Nations’ 1991 rescission of the 1975 “Zionism is racism” resolution. A foreign policy official in multiple Republican administrations, and now among foreign policy think-tankers, he has been the most forceful in recent years in advocating military action to get Iran to end its nuclear program.
RespectAbility is led by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, who for years was prominent in the pro-Israel community. She decried the absence on the list of people who were familiar with the disability community. — jta