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The Foreman Forecast: Ivanka moves in – Metro US

The Foreman Forecast: Ivanka moves in

The Foreman Forecast: Ivanka moves in
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Ever since the election (for that matter even before), critics have raged about the hopelessly complicated tangle of Donald Trump’s personal, professional, and political lives.

They’ve worried about conflicts of interest, influence peddling, and whether he’ll bring the WWE to the Rose Garden. So no doubt they are thrilled to hear the president’s daughter is now on the White House staff.

Ivanka Trump announced her new, unpaid position this week, making official what pretty much everyone thought anyway — like her husband Jared Kushner, she is a real player in the new D.C.

The 35-year-old socialite, businesswoman, former fashion model, and famous offspring will be sitting in high-level meetings, talking policy, perusing sensitive documents, and hobnobbing with world leaders. She’ll be at state dinners. She may even have the White House password for Netflix.

I won’t get all judgey about her fitness for the task. She seems smart enough, and trust me White Housers are not always the hottest fries in the basket anyway.

She made some solid points during the campaign especially on women’s rights, even if liberals scream at the very idea she could champion such a cause. And perhaps she’ll help drag dear old dad back toward center when his right-leaning friends pull him too far down conservative cul-de-sacs. She has been, after all, a Democrat much of her life.

Granted, there are potential problems. She also brings political inexperience, a Trump-centric world view, and even more insular thinking — all of which this White House already has in spades.

But here is a good reason even Dump-Trumpers should feel a tiny bit better about this latest news from the growing Mar-a-Lago on Pennsylvania Avenue. Government watchdogs can keep a closer eye on official advisers than on unofficial ones.

Now that she has a desk in the West Wing, they have more legal tools to compel disclosure. They can demand records. They can better track her comings, goings, and conversations. Congress can more easily demand answers — under subpoena if need be.

And let’s face it: She was going to be there anyway. Now, at least, we have a better chance of knowing what she’s up to.