A new report sheds new light on the woes of Jared Kushner, who is in danger of being a senior White House official without access to classified information said to be central to his job. Kushner, who has been operating with a temporary clearance, has come under the harsh glare of the spotlight since White House Chief of Staff John Kelly declared that all such staffers would no longer be granted access to top-secret information after Friday, February 23. And it appears Kushner’s situation is not approaching resolution.

In a February 9 phone call to White House counsel Don McGahn, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Kushner’s business ties warrant further investigation, according to The Washington Post. Rosenstein had reportedly been trying to reach Kelly, but settled for McGahn once Kelly proved unavailable. (Prior to the Post’s new revelation, an attorney for Kushner downplayed the significance of such delays, saying it was “not uncommon for this process to take this long in a new administration.”)

Kelly announced the change in protocol after the disastrous exit of his deputy, Rob Porter. Porter has been accused of domestic violence by multiple ex-partners. Despite not having a permanent security clearance, Porter had been tasked with vetting highly sensitive information on its way to President Donald Trump.

“This is Kelly’s way of saying, ‘it’s me or Jared,’ ” a Republican close to the White House told the Hive earlier this week. Kelly’s updated protocols bar any staffers whose clearances have been under review since June 1 from accessing classified material. Kushner and President Trump's daughter Ivanka would be unable to access essential information to their jobs unless Trump goes against Kelly’s orders and picks his family over his staff. On Friday, Trump said he’s staying out of it.

“I will let General Kelly make that decision and he’s going to do what’s right for the country and I have no doubt he’ll make the right decision,” the president said during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. It was the first time Trump publicly addressed the security clearance problems. In the same breath, he heaped praise on Kushner, saying that his son-in-law has done an “outstanding job” and been treated “very unfairly” by the press.

Kushner has affected a lower profile as the scandal unfolds. He and Ivanka jetted off to the Caribbean for Presidents’ Day, and, upon their return, Ivanka headed to South Korea for a promotional tour at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.