President Trump’s decision to name his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to a senior advisory position on his White House staff does not violate anti-nepotism laws, the Justice Department said on Friday.
A law barring government officials from hiring family members for jobs at “executive agencies” doesn’t extend to the White House because the West Wing is not considered a federal agency, the Justice Department noted in a 14-page memorandum issued Friday.
Critics had accused Trump of violating anti-nepotism statutes with his appointment of Kushner, a trusted adviser who served the president through much of the campaign and transition.
But Trump’s legal team had argued that those laws wouldn’t apply to the presidency, an assertion with which the Justice Department apparently agreed.
Some proponents of the Kushner appointment had drawn parallels between it and former President Bill Clinton’s decision to allow his wife to head up a healthcare commission, a move that rankled Clinton’s opponents at the time.
