What Is Jared Kushner's Role In The White House? Ivanka Trump's Husband To Lead Office Of American Innovation

President Donald Trump is expected start Monday a White House Office of American Innovation, a new office with sweeping powers to be headed by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

The office, staffed by former business executives and strategic consultants, will aim to cut government red tape and inefficient bureaucratic functioning, while also fulfilling key campaign promises such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction.

“All Americans, regardless of their political views, can recognize that government stagnation has hindered our ability to properly function, often creating widespread congestion and leading to cost overruns and delays… I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my ‘ahead of schedule, under budget’ mentality to the government,” Trump told the Post.

Read: Ivanka And Jared Kushner Had To Stop President From Dropping Paris Climate Deal

Several bold initiatives have been hinted at already: Digitization of every federal department and agency; reimagining workforce building and training initiatives; and delivering on big, ambitious projects that are part of Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, such as providing broadband internet service to every American.

“We should have excellence in government… The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens,” Kushner told the Post on Sunday in an interview in his West Wing office.

It seems likely the innovation office will lay particular emphasis on technology moguls. More than 100 such leaders, including several prominent names like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk have met several government officials for multiple ideation sessions.

Kushner will be aided in his mission with support from his wife and the president’s elder daughter, Ivanka Trump, who recently found herself office space within the White House, although the Post citing White House aides mentions that the collaboration between the two will be unofficial and be limited to issues such as workforce development.

However, concerns persist over the lack of political experience of members of Kushner’s team. Individuals lacking political experience include Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council; Chris Liddell, assistant to the president for strategic initiatives; and Reed Cordish, assistant to the president for intergovernmental and technology initiatives

The Washington Post report also warned that the office could possibly lead to privatization of some government functions or it could direct existing contracts to be transferred to new bidders.

But for now, the office’s first announcement may be their assistance in combating the opioid abuse epidemic as the president is expected to announce the creation of an official drug commission that focuses on the problem and will be chaired New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.