Less than a week ago, a handful of left-leaning sites—and even the Los Angeles Times—were wondering what happened to Ivanka Trump. After all, the President’s daughter was supposed to be a moderating, liberal force within the Trump administration, pushing the president toward a more compassionate agenda.
But now, as Ivanka gets her own West Wing office and access to important Oval Office meetings (perhaps even a security clearance), those same sites are concerned that Ivanka is getting a little too close to power.
In February, the Washington Post fretted, “what is Ivanka doing?” as they struggled to figure out why the First Daughter was attending meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but only quietly pushing her dad to be less aggressive on issues like climate change, and more aggressive on providing for women in the workplace.
The Los Angeles Times was more specific, calling Ivanka “the liberal hope of the Trump administration” and panicking because Ivanka spent more time in the first few months of her father’s Presidency “jiggling a baby” and showcasing her own fashion line than sitting in on Cabinet meetings.
But on Monday, sources in the White House confirmed that Ivanka was cleaning out a West Wing office, and planned to move into the White House sometime in the next month, ostensibly so that she could make a bigger impact on policy. Her “unofficial” position comes with her own White House phone, access to the president and, possibly, a security clearance.
Sites like Vox (and, perhaps appropriately, the Los Angeles Times), immediately began the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Ivanka, they claimed, was unqualified, having no policy or governance experience in her background (never mind, she has years of experience in her father’s company as well as her own). She’s the First Daughter, not an expert! What can she possibly contribute to Trump’s agenda?
The short answer is, she can do what she was doing before—what they wanted her to do—just on a daily basis and with access to the president’s top advisers. If she was supposed to be influencing policy in a good way before—or, rather, in a liberal way before—she’s likely to keep doing it, just by walking down the hall instead of calling from her home office.
Being in the White House actually gives the public more oversight on Ivanka’s daily doings. If she were merely chatting with her dad from his Oval Office phone, she’d be a relative giving possibly unsound advice to the leader of the free world. As a White House employee, she’s subject to federal laws, transparency requirements, and conflict of interest restrictions.
Actually, having her close at hand may make her more likely to influence policy, not less—the way left-leaning media was complaining about before.
