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Fact check: Have presidents before Donald Trump appointed family members to White House positions?

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Jared Kushner

January 17, 2017
By Fact Check by Ballotpedia staff

In a Facebook post, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Jared Kushner to serve as a senior advisor to the president.[1] [2] Kushner, the CEO of Kushner Companies and publisher of Observer Media, is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka. He served as an advisor to Trump during the 2016 campaign and is a member of the president-elect’s transition team.

In his post on January 9, 2017, Reich, a Democrat who served in the Clinton administration, wrote, "But Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law and business partner. His major loyalty is to Trump and Trump’s global business empire, not to the American people. He has no experience in government. Kings and despots install family members around them, to protect their power and money. Presidents do not – at least not until now."[1]

Is Reich correct? Has no president appointed a family member to a position in the executive branch?

Reich is wrong. Several presidents, beginning with John Adams, appointed family members to executive branch positions.

Presidential appointments of family members

Prior to 1967, there were no legal restrictions on presidents appointing family members to jobs in the executive branch. However, that changed in 1967 when Congress included in the Postal Revenue and Federal Salary Act a section containing restrictions on government officials appointing family members to federal government jobs.[3] That section of the act, commonly known as the Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute, states,

“ 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 or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official. An individual may not be appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced in or to a civilian position in an agency if such appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement has been advocated by a public official, serving in or exercising jurisdiction or control over the agency, who is a relative of the individual.[4][5] ”

The statute defines a public official as “an officer (including the President and a Member of Congress), a member of the uniformed service, an employee and any other individual, in whom is vested the authority by law, rule, or regulation, or to whom the authority has been delegated, to appoint, employ, promote, or advance individuals, or to recommend individuals for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in connection with employment in an agency.”[4]

There is, however, some question as to whether the statute applies to the president’s authority to appoint members of his White House staff.[6]

In 1978, Congress passed HR 11003: “A bill to clarify the authority for employment of personnel in the White House Office and the Executive Residence,” which was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter.[7]

The law states, in part, that “the President is authorized to appoint and fix the pay of employees in the White House Office without regard to any other provision of law regulating the employment or compensation of persons in the Government service. Employees so appointed shall perform such official duties as the President may prescribe.”[8]

In a 1993 ruling, Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suggested the anti-nepotism statute might not apply to presidential appointments of White House personnel. In his decision in Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. v. Clinton, Silberman wrote,

“ Although [the statute] defines agency as 'an executive agency,' we doubt that Congress intended to include the White House or the Executive Office of the President. So, for example, a President would be barred from appointing his brother as Attorney General, but perhaps not as a White House special assistant.[9][5] ”

Silberman was ruling on whether federal open meetings laws applied to the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton and chaired by First Lady Hillary Clinton.[9] At issue in the case was whether Hillary Clinton, in her capacity as head of the task force, could be considered an employee of the federal government. Since the anti-nepotism statute was not at issue in the case, Silberman’s opinion had effect on its legal status.

Hillary Clinton’s appointment to the task force is the only instance of a president appointing a family member to a position in the executive branch since the passage of the anti-nepotism statute.[3]

Presidential appointments prior to 1967

John Adams was the first president to appoint family members to executive branch positions.[10] Adams appointed his son, John Quincy Adams, as U.S. minister resident to Prussia in 1797, a position equivalent to ambassador.[11] Adams also appointed his son-in-law, William Stephens Smith, to the position of surveyor of the port of New York in 1800.[12]

According to the National Constitutional Center, at least six 19th century presidents appointed family members to positions in the White House or other positions in the executive branch, including James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, James Buchanan, and Ulysses Grant.[10]

During the administration of Woodrow Wilson, a presidential appointee became a family member rather than vice versa. In 1914, William Gibbs McAdoo, who was then serving as secretary of the treasury and chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, married Wilson’s daughter Eleanor.[13] McAdoo continued serving in both roles, and after the U.S. entered the First World War, Wilson appointed McAdoo to the newly created positions of director general of railways and chairman of the War Finance Board.[14]

Franklin Roosevelt appointed his son James to the position of administrative assistant to the president in January 1937. Six months later, James was promoted to secretary to the president. In October of that year, James’ responsibilities expanded and he became the White House coordinator for 18 federal agencies.[15]

In October 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed his son John as assistant staff secretary in the White House. At the time, John Eisenhower was a major in the U.S. Army.[16] [17]

President John Kennedy appointed his brother Robert as attorney general of the United States in January 1961.[18] Kennedy also appointed his brother-in-law R. Sargent Shriver as director of the Peace Corps in March 1961.[19]

Conclusion

In a Facebook post, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s intention to appoint Jared Kushner as a senior advisor to the president. Kushner is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. Reich wrote, "Kings and despots install family members around them, to protect their power and money. Presidents do not – at least not until now."[1] Reich is wrong. At least 11 presidents have appointed family members to executive branch positions.

See also



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Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Facebook, “Robert Reich,” accessed January 12, 2017
  2. ↑ NPR, “Trump Names Son-In-Law Jared Kushner As White House Senior Adviser,” January 9, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stetson Law Review, “Congressional Interference with the President’s Power to Appoint,” 1995
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 U.S. Government Publishing Office, “Postal Revenue and Federal Salary Act of 1967,” accessed January 12, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  6. ↑ The Washington Post, "Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to join White House as senior adviser; no formal role for Ivanka Trump," January 9, 2017
  7. ↑ Govtrack, “H.R. 11003 (95th), Overview,” accessed January 12, 2017
  8. ↑ Govtrack, “H.R. 11003 (95th), Text,” accessed January 12, 2017
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, “Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. v. Clinton,” June 22, 1993
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 National Constitution Center, “Presidential nepotism debate goes back to the Founders’ time,” November 2, 2016
  11. ↑ U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, “Biographies of the Secretaries of State: John Quincy Adams (1767–1848),” accessed January 12, 2017
  12. ↑ Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, “Smith, William Stephens, (1755 - 1816),” accessed January 12, 2017
  13. ↑ The White House Historical Association, “Wedding Ceremonies Held at the White House,” accessed January 12, 2017
  14. ↑ Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, “McAdoo, William Gibbs, (1863 - 1941),” accessed January 12, 2017
  15. ↑ Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, “James Roosevelt, 1907-1991, Biographical Sketch,” accessed January 12, 2017
  16. ↑ West Point, “BG John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower USAR (Retired),” accessed January 12, 2017
  17. ↑ Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, “Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1958 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 1 to December 31, 1958,” accessed January 12, 2017
  18. ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, “Attorney General: Robert Francis Kennedy,” accessed January 12, 2017
  19. ↑ Peace Corps, “Peace Corps Milestones,” accessed January 12, 2017

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