Gingrich: Kushner may need nepotism waiver

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich voiced support for the idea that President-elect Donald Trump could tap his son-in-law to revamp peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. But he cautioned that a decades-old nepotism law could require Trump get a waiver for Jared Kushner.

“I think they would have to get a waiver to the anti-nepotism law,” Gingrich, a longtime Trump surrogate, said on "Fox and Friends" on Wednesday. “That might be a little tricky, although I think if they worked at it, they could do it.”

Trump reignited the speculation over Kushner’s role in his administration when Trump floated the possibility that the 35-year-old could become a key broker for peace talks during an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday.

“I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians,” Trump said. He added that Kushner “would be very good" at such a job, and that “he knows the region.”

Congress passed the anti-nepotism law in 1967, possibly motivated by President Kennedy’s nomination of his brother Robert to become attorney general, but the law appears to apply to government posts far below the Cabinet level. Legal experts say Kushner's appointment to a senior White House role would most likely trigger a debate over the statute. Kushner could be protected, however, by an obscure passage from a 1990s federal court decision related to Hillary Clinton’s role in trying to pass health-care reform.

Calling him one of the “smartest people I’ve worked with,” Gingrich praised how Kushner, whose experience, like Trump, is primarily in real estate, could add a fresh perspective to peace negotiations.

“Certainly I would favor Jared Kushner's intelligence and skills being put to good use in the United States wherever he would feel committed to invest his time and his life. And having somebody with a totally fresh approach might be a good starting point in the Middle East," Gingrich said.

