It’s official: Ivanka Trump is now an employee of the federal government. The daughter of President Donald Trump and wife of senior adviser Jared Kushner, Ivanka is making official what was already clear from her frequent appearances alongside her father at the White House and last week’s news that she would be receiving a West Wing office. The New York Times, which first broke the news, reports that Ivanka will have the title of special assistant to the president and will forgo pay.
There are some ethical questions about Ivanka’s employment (which she says she has discussed with the White House counsel), and like many among senior White House aides, she has no experience in government. But none of that really matters to the president. Her acceptance of a formal role in her father’s White House suggests Trump is looking for more familiarity in the West Wing, which is quickly seeing the Jared Kushner orbit grow in its influence. (See the recent elevation of Ivanka ally Dina Powell to the role of deputy national security advisor for strategy for more evidence.)
What does that tell us about how Trump himself views this precarious moment in his presidency, and where the Ivanka-infused White House will go from here? That will be an important and guiding question in the coming weeks and months.
Another Try at an Obamacare Repeal Vote?
What’s notable about the Bloomberg article, and an earlier Times article about the restart on Obamacare repeal discussions in the House, is that the White House appears to have no comment on the matter. A senior White House aide was nonresponsive to my request to comment on the talks in Congress.
Meanwhile, at his Wednesday briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer, was asked if President Trump would consider working with Democrats to improve the health care law. “We’re willing to engage with people,” said Spicer, before adding that Trump’s principles that the law should be repealed are well known and understood.
Spicer Says He Prays for Some ‘Bad Apple’ Reporters
In a Wednesday interview with sometime White House briefing room attendee David Brody and his colleague Jenna Browder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Sean Spicer says he’s looking out for some of the White House press corps, spiritually speaking.
“Every once in a while, there’s clearly a couple bad apples that I try to pray for,” said Spicer with a laugh.
A Big Meeting on Tax Reform
President Trump will meet Thursday with a group of advisors, including National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, for a briefing on tax reform. “One of the proposals that will be presented is the border-adjusted tax, a centerpiece of the plan favored by House Speaker Paul Ryan,” Bloomberg reports.
Cohn, who has been a key part of tax reform discussion both in the West Wing and with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, has been opposed to border adjustment. Brought into the White House by Jared Kushner, the former Goldman Sachs COO may have the president’s ear on tax reform broadly.
Cohn had a limited role in the final days of the push for the American Health Care Act, which could mean he’s less tainted by that bill’s failure than other Trump aides. Whatever tax reform proposal the White House ends up pushing, expect to see Cohn’s influence all over it.
Song of the Day
“Everybody Knows,” Ryan Adams.
