(CNN) Officials at the White House have been working to devise a plan this week that would allow Jared Kushner to continue in his role handling sensitive foreign policy matters without forcing President Donald Trump to personally intervene and grant him access to classified information, people familiar with the situation say.

The scramble came after chief of staff John Kelly issued a memo a week ago declaring the White House will no longer allow some employees with interim security clearances access to top secret information if their background investigation has been pending since before last June -- a category Kushner falls into.

As President, Trump himself could grant any clearance to Kushner. But the President's advisers have determined that taking that step would be drastic and cause deep rifts within the intelligence community and among Trump's top aides.

Kelly, a retired Marine general, has also made it known that Trump's personal intervention would post a problem and possibly undercut his authority in the West Wing.

Instead, aides have been searching for a solution that would allow Kushner to continue working on Middle East and China issues; not be viewed as violating Kelly's mandate that interim clearances be revoked; and avoid requiring Trump's personal intervention.

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