As the House Judiciary Committee gaveled a rare prime time impeachment hearing inside the vaulted hall of the Ways and Means Committee Room on the evening of December 11, Donald Trump stood at a lectern in the White House’s East Room, lavishing praise on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. “I love Jared,” Trump told casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, and other high-profile guests attending the White House’s annual Hanukkah reception. A few hours earlier, at Kushner’s urging, Trump had signed a controversial executive order that classified Jews as a nationality for the purposes of enforcing anti-discrimination laws on college campuses. That morning, Kushner defended the policy in a New York Times op-ed. The flurry of activity reflected an emerging truth: As Trump ends the year by becoming only the third president in history to be impeached, Kushner is completing what is, by any measure, an unexpected comeback.

A year ago, it was conventional Washington wisdom that Kushner could be indicted in the Robert Mueller probe. Trump’s previous chief of staff John Kelly effectively marginalized him during pivotal domestic and foreign policy debates. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani even told Fox News that Kushner was “disposable.” Today, Kelly is gone and Giuliani’s fate is uncertain, while Kushner is exerting influence over virtually every significant White House decision, from negotiating trade deals to 2020 campaign strategy to overseeing Trump’s impeachment defense. “Jared is running everything,” a former West Wing official told me.

Inside the West Wing, Kushner has both eliminated opponents and installed acquiescent officials. “Jared was very frustrated with [Reince] Priebus and John Kelly,” a Republican close to the White House, said. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney “was Jared’s pick,” the source said, and has allowed Kushner to function as de facto chief of staff. “Mick has decided not to be in control,” a former West Wing official said. “Jared treats Mick like the help. There’s no pushback,” a prominent Republican said. John Bolton, who recently mocked Kushner in a private speech, has been replaced by Robert O’Brien, a Kushner ally. Sources say that Vice President Mike Pence and his advisers don’t challenge Kushner after a string of leaks that Kushner wanted to replace Pence on the ticket with Nikki Haley. “Pence people look at Jared apprehensively. Pence treats Jared as a peer,” said former Trump aide Sam Nunberg. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)

One remaining opponent is Kellyanne Conway. Kushner has so far unsuccessfully lobbied Trump to fire Conway because of her husband’s attacks on Trump. Kushner, though, recently prevailed over Conway’s objections that Trump didn’t need to set up a White House war room, a source told me. Trump brought on former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi and Treasury Department spokesperson Tony Sayegh to run a daily messaging operation from a basement office underneath the West Wing. “Kellyanne hates Bondi,” a Republican close to the White House said. “Jared pushed to get a war room because congressional Republicans said they needed it.” (Reached for comment, Conway said she and Bondi "have been friends for years and years.")

Kushner’s survival owes a lot to the Trumpworld truism that family comes first and last. “The family has a larger degree of trust and protection that no one else enjoys,” the former West Wing official said. Trump has adopted Kushner’s view that the White House is winning the impeachment fight. “Jared thinks Nancy Pelosi is running away from this as fast as she can,” a prominent Republican said. But it’s also true that, at this point in Trump’s term, Trump can’t find anyone actually qualified who wants to work for him. “Compared to everyone else, Jared has proved to be competent,” Nunberg told me. “It may be a low bar, but he’s an asset there.” As much influence as Kushner has now, some critics fear what a second term would look like. “There’s no pushback now,” said the prominent Republican. “As they go into the second term, they’ll be able to do whatever they want.”

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