The departure of Maggie Cordish comes as Rebublicans and Ivanka Trump, pictured, struggle to get paid leave legislation off the ground. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Top Ivanka paid-leave staffer departs White House

Maggie Cordish, a close friend of Ivanka Trump and a top adviser to her on paid family leave, has left the White House.

There are no plans to replace Cordish, signaling a likely pullback from the Trump White House's efforts to pass a paid family leave bill in the face of steep congressional resistance.


But a White House official who confirmed Cordish's departure said "nothing could be further from the truth." Staffers from the Domestic Policy Council and the Office of Legislative Affairs, the official said, will continue working on paid leave, reporting to Ivanka Trump.

“They’ve always been involved on this issue, and continue to assist in Ivanka [Trump]'s efforts on paid family leave,” the official said.

Although Cordish kept a low profile, she was one of Ivanka Trump’s closest allies in the White House. The two have been friends since they met at the University of Pennsylvania. It was Ivanka Trump who introduced Cordish to her husband, Baltimore real estate magnate Reed Cordish. The couple married in 2010.

Early in the Trump administration, Reed Cordish worked in the White House Office of American Innovation, advising the president on government-related technology issues. He left his post in February.

In 2004, Trump sued Reed Cordish’s father, David Cordish, over a development dispute in Florida. Afterword, the two men became friends.

“I sued David [Cordish],” Trump said at a fundraiser in 2015, according to Washington Jewish Week. “For hundreds of millions of dollars. And I didn’t know him, but I just said, ‘I’m gonna get this guy, whoever the hell he is.’ … But I walk in and I, like, fell in love in about two minutes. I said, ‘This guy’s a great guy.’ … We worked out our problems in 12 seconds and we’ve been friends ever since.”

Maggie Cordish’s departure comes as Republicans — and Ivanka Trump — struggle to get paid leave legislation off the ground. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have been working on a bill that would let people borrow from Social Security to fund paid leave. The idea has received praise in some conservative circles, but Democrats and even many Republicans are wary of putting Social Security in more financial jeopardy. The trio has yet to introduce a bill.

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