Ivanka Trump Gets Own Office In The West Wing Of The White House

First daughter Ivanka Trump will be given her own office in the White House as her role expands.

IVANKA TRUMP GETS OWN OFFICE IN WHITE HOUSE

Though still not officially a government official, Trump has set up shop on the second floor of the West Wing, in the office next to senior advisor Dina Powell. She is also set to receive government-issued communications devices and a security clearance.

She will not be salaried or sworn in, says her attorney Jamie Gorelick, but will serve as Donald Trump‘s “eyes and ears” while providing advice to the administration. Ethics experts take issue with having the president’s daughter play such a close role in his government, despite the lack of official title.

“Even though the White House denies it, Ivanka is for these and other reasons a ‘special government employee,'” said Ambassador Norm Eisen, former White House Ethics Counsel under President Obama. “So we are headed for yet another Trump ethics dispute in a White House and administration that is already chock full of them.”

Richard Painter, former White House Ethic Counsel under George W. Bush, agreed. “It is very important for the White House to acknowledge [Ivanka] is an employee and not play games,” Painter told Fox News. “They have given her an office. I’m assuming they will give her the devices — which she needs, because the last thing we need is to be playing ‘Hillary games’ on a private server. She’s going to get security clearance – she is a government employee… You don’t need to be full time or have a salary to be considered a government employee.”

The question at hand concerns the 1967 anti-nepotism measure that was enacted after John F. Kennedy appointed his brother Robert Kennedy as US Attorney General. According to the statute, a “public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving over or which he exercises jurisdiction.” Trump’s team, however, has asserted that this rule applies to government agencies, not to the White House.

“Ivanka has a lot of wiggle room to play around in policy,” Painter said. “The bottom line is that if Ivanka does work outside of the social realm and moves into policy, she becomes an employee.”