With a West Wing office but no specific title – and no precedent for adult children whose father is president – the rules Trump is subject to are under dispute 
 
 After months of attending meetings of world leaders and visiting factories with her father, the role of first daughter Ivanka Trump is officially expanding – creating new ethical issues for an administration that has been heavily criticized over its potential conflicts of interest. 
 
 
 
 Ivanka Trump has West Wing office and will get access to classified information Read more 
 
 She will not have a specific title, but Trump will have an office in the West Wing, a government-issued phone and computer and security clearance to access classified information, and she will advise her father. 
 
 “While there is no modern precedent for an adult child of the president, I will voluntarily follow all of the ethics rules placed on government employees,” she told Politico in a statement. 
 
 
 
 But following the ethics guidelines should not be voluntary, said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics lawyer for George W Bush between 2005 and 2007. 
 
 “Given what she’s going to do, I don’t think she has any choice,” he said. “She has a West Wing office, she has equipment, she has a White House email address, she’s going to be doing policy work,” said Painter. 
 
 “For purposes of the conflict of interest statute, I believe she is a government employee,” he added. 
 
 
 
 Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, argues that since she will earn no salary and not be sworn in, she does not count as a government employee. There is no precedent for adult children whose father is president working in the White House, although two presidents – Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan – had their nieces serve in the role of first lady since Jackson was a widower and Buchanan a bachelor. 
 
 Trump has handed control over the day-to-day running of her eponymous clothing business to an executive and its assets are maintained by a trust managed by two of her husband’s siblings. 
 
 As part of the trust rules, outlined in the New York Times, Trump can veto any potential business deals for her clothing company that might create a conflict with her political work. 
 
 
 
 That means, points out Painter, that Trump has to know about any new deal that might put her at risk of breaking the statute, meaning she can be held responsible. 
 
 “She’s got accountability on that stuff. She can’t just blame the trustee,” he said. 
 
 Trump’s marriage to her father’s senior adviser, the real estate developer Jared Kushner, poses additional potential problems, because both could benefit financially from each other’s businesses. 
 
 
 
 Painter warned that the pair should avoid official political discussions involved with trade agreements regarding textiles, real estate and even bank deregulation, since that can affect real estate. 
 
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 That means if the premier of China visits the White House – most of Ivanka Trump’s clothing line is made in China and Hong Kong – it is fine for her to attend the meeting, but she should not mention trade and if the discussion begins to focus on trade, she should excuse herself, says Painter. 
 
 The ethics expert noted approvingly that Ivanka Trump engaged Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the same legal services used by the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, former head of ExxonMobil, to handle issues of conflict of interest. Kushner also used the DC-based lawyers to manage his potential conflicts of interest with his family business after taking the role of adviser in the Trump administration. 
 
 “It’s a criminal statute, so people better not mess up under it. But I think she’ll do the right thing,” said Painter. 

 Ivanka Trump's Move To The White House Raises Questions About Ethics 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 When Donald Trump was elected president, his daughter Ivanka Trump said she would move to Washington, D.C., but not into a White House office. 
 
 Since then, she has often been photographed in key White House meetings with foreign leaders and Cabinet members. Now she will have her own office in the West Wing, along with a security clearance and government-issued communications devices. 
 
 In her unpaid role, Ivanka will "continue to be the eyes and ears of her father and provide candid advice as she has for her entire adult life," her attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said in an NPR interview. "She is intending to spend some time on initiatives that she cares about, particularly with regard to women in the workplace." 
 
 Politics Ethics Experts Raise Alarm Over Ivanka Trump's White House Role Ethics Experts Raise Alarm Over Ivanka Trump's White House Role Listen · 2:29 2:29 
 
 Ivanka's elevated position has historians and ethics experts questioning the appropriateness of having one of the president's adult children serving directly in the administration, especially while continuing to own a business. 
 
 Julian Zelizer, a political historian at Princeton University, says Ivanka's White House role raises concerns such as: "Do the rules apply on nepotism, on conflict of interest, on other kinds of regulations that employees face?" 
 
 Zelizer says previous presidents have relied upon children for input. For example, President Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice frequently offered political advice, and George W. Bush often played an advisory role when his father, George H.W. Bush, was president. 
 
 But this situation is different because it appears Ivanka will be have an expansive portfolio, not just offer insights. She will not be sworn in, nor need Senate approval. 
 
 Her husband, Jared Kushner, also is serving in the administration, but he has official status as a senior adviser who took an oath of office. Earlier this year, some critics questioned whether his role violated the anti-nepotism law passed in 1967 to prevent a president from placing a relative in a Cabinet or federal agency job. 
 
 But that law was challenged when President Bill Clinton named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead a task force on health care. A federal judge ruled in that case the anti-nepotism law doesn't apply to White House staff jobs. 
 
 When Kushner came into the White House job, he turned over his role in his family's real estate empire to family members, who continue to own the business. 
 
 Ivanka plans to continue to own her eponymous fashion and jewelry business, even though she has stepped back from daily management. Her father has followed that pattern, too, continuing to own The Trump Organization while putting his two eldest sons in charge of management. 
 
 
 
 Gorelick said Ivanka spoke with the White House counsel about the ethical implication of taking this role and "they are comfortable with what she's doing." 
 
 She added that Ivanka will "abide by all the ethical rules that she would abide by if she were an employee." 
 
 But just having a high-visibility role could stir up questions about whether her White House presence could be seen as promoting her products as people try to curry favor with her. 
 
 "She is not simply part of the family; she is a businesswoman," Zelizer notes. 
 
 Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St Louis and a specialist in government ethics, says the Trump administration's arguments that conflict-of-interest rules don't bind the president or his daughter are disheartening. 
 
 "My biggest concern is that this is yet another erosion of government ethics standards in this White House," Clark said.
– Ivanka Trump has attended meetings with foreign leaders and Cabinet members; she has security clearance that allows her access to classified information, a government-issued phone and computer, a White House email address, and even her own White House office. She still doesn't have an official White House job, but NPR and the Guardian talked to historians and ethics experts who are concerned with the ethical implications of Trump having such a high-profile role, even if an unpaid one, in her father's administration—particularly since she still owns a business. Since her role is not official, she requires no swearing-in and no Senate approval. And, though past presidents have looked to their children for insight before, Trump's role looks to be more extensive than simply offering advice. Trump's attorney explains her role to NPR thusly: She will "continue to be the eyes and ears of her father and provide candid advice as she has for her entire adult life," plus "spend some time on initiatives that she cares about, particularly with regard to women in the workplace." She'll do all that while continuing to own her fashion and jewelry line, though she won't be as involved in managing the company; one political historian points out that could raise questions about whether her presence in the administration is looked at as promotion for her company. Trump's attorney says White House counsel is "comfortable" with the ethics of her role in the administration, and that Trump will abide by the same ethical rules paid employees abide by. The former chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush concludes, "For purposes of the conflict of interest statute, I believe she is a government employee."