She has no intention of becoming a government employee, and yet, Ivanka Trump will be getting cozy in a new office located on the West Wing’s second floor. The plan appears to be ruffling some feathers, as ethics questions now surround the daughter of President Donald Trump.
Ivanka Trump’s true role has yet to be spelled out, but at the moment, she will serve as the president’s “eyes and ears” on matters that also go beyond women’s issues. Her lawyer Jamie Gorelick claims that although the first daughter will not be classified as a government employee, she will voluntarily perform her position under the same ethics and records retention.
Interestingly enough, Ivanka Trump will not be paid a salary, be sworn in or even bear an official job title. Yet, the mother of three will receive a security clearance soon and also be adding government-issued communications devices for her expanding White House role.
Some are crying foul over Ivanka Trump’s West Wing appointment and calling it sheer nepotism. Nepotism usually takes the guise of employing relatives or naming them to high office.
Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner has been a senior White House adviser since President Donald Trump took office. The Department of Justice assessed the hiring and found that no anti-nepotism laws were violated. Mr. Kushner is a paid government official.
For a number of years now, Ivanka Trump, 35, has maintained a high profile position at her father’s Trump Organization. She and the president are very close, and sources say that the first daughter doesn’t believe that helping her father poses any potential ethics problems.
The Trump administration continues to create a new cloud of suspicion over public roles and private interests. Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich is speaking out against the Ivanka Trump so-called non-government position, calling it “a coup” before the Trump family prepares to “loot the country.”
By the way, Ivanka Trump’s West Wing neighbor will be Dina Powell, a member of the Trump administration’s National Security Council.