Spotlight: Trump's son-in-law's role raises eyebrows as president-elect prepares to take power

The incoming Trump administration is already causing raised eyebrows on a number of fronts, with the latest being the role that the president-elect's son-in-law might play in the new government.

On Thursday the New York Times reported that Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump's daughter Ivanka, spoke to a lawyer to find out if it would be legal, under federal anti-nepotism laws, for him to play a role in the White House.

This comes just days after Kushner, who played a major advisory role in Trump's campaign, fired New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a major Republican Party figure who was expected to hold a position in the new administration.

A 1967 federal anti-nepotism law, which was implemented after former President John Kennedy gave his brother, Robert Kennedy, the position of attorney general, states that no official can hire a member of his or her family. But news reports indicate the Kushner is trying to find out if those can be legally circumvented.

Critics are also concerned about the blurring of lines between government service and running a wildly lucrative business, as Kushner heads a major real estate business and owns the New York Observer newspaper.

There are also concerns that Trump will rely heavily on his children for advice and depend on them to carry out crucial decisions, as he has always done while running his billion-dollar business empire.

"There is a lot of concern about the role Trump's family is playing in the transition. His son-in-law is actively participating in major personnel decisions and has gotten major figures fired. The risk is that the family is running Trump's business while also participating in major government decisions. The blurring of that line could generate major ethical problems down the road," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"In the past, there have been family members who played a major role. But they weren't running a billion dollar business and blurring the line between public service and private enrichment. The latter is the issue that concerns outside observers," he said.

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that while Trump's son-in-law Kushner does have an outsized influence on the transition process, it remained unknown whether he was randomly firing people.

"At this point, Kushner is continuing to advise his father-in-law as he did during the campaign. While it may appear to be nepotism in the transition process for him to play that role, the bigger question should be the conflicts of interests with the various businesses and the family's role there," said Mahaffee.

The relationship of Jack and Bobby Kennedy - as they were known - was key for the Kennedy administration and the resolution of events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, given democratic traditions, such as perceptions of "royalty" and concerns about nepotism, the laws were changed after the Kennedy administration to prevent such a situation where a family member held a key administration post, Mahaffee noted.

Meanwhile, U.S. news media has reported in recent days that the power transition has been a rocky one.

"Transitions generally are planned months in advance so there are clear lines of authority and smoother communications. Internal decisions are being described as a knife fight so that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence about how things are proceeding," West said.

"I think there is a sense of disarray around this transition, partially from the (recent news), but also the fact that very few traditional players are involved in the process," said Mahaffee.

"Given that the Trump transition team has been forced to reshuffle its leadership team and cannot draw from the traditional GOP foreign policy establishment, there doesn't appear to be enough of the traditional experience necessary for both the gravity and the fast tempo of a transition," said Mahaffee. Enditem