Jared Kushner has spent two years insisting he’s just a “volunteer” in his father-in-law’s administration. Once Democrats take control of Congress, that excuse could backfire on him, according to a new analysis by Popular Information’s Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law has represented the United States in high-stakes negotiations over Iran, Ukraine and Gaza. Meanwhile, as founder of the private equity firm Affinity Partners, he has collected what the reporter duo calls “untold millions” in fees from Middle Eastern governments.
The Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause bars U.S. officers from accepting payments from foreign states. Before Trump returned to office, Kushner pledged to stay out of “foreign policy work.” “I served in government, and I think my track record is pretty impeccable,” he told Axios in February 2024. “Now I’m a private investor.”
He quickly broke that pledge. The administration argues that because Kushner is an unpaid volunteer, ethics rules for government officials don’t apply to him, and he has also declined to file the financial disclosure required of senior officials.
Popular Information calls that argument not credible. The Justice Department’s own Office of Legal Counsel has found that anyone “quite clearly engaging in a governmental function” under the president’s direction counts as a government employee, appointment or not.
Until now, Democrats couldn’t do much about it. In March, House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats asked Trump to send Kushner to testify publicly, and Trump ignored the request, but starting in January, Democrats will control every committee in both chambers – and with it the power to compel his testimony.
That’s where the “volunteer” defense could backfire. The Justice Department says the president’s “immediate advisers,” which it defines as his “alter ego,” are immune from congressional testimony. To claim that protection, the White House would have to argue that Kushner is one of the most important officials in government after insisting for two years that he isn’t part of it at all.
Even if a court accepted that argument, the immunity doesn’t cover “inquiry related to their own private affairs,” and Kushner’s work at Affinity is private by definition. And because Kushner says he isn’t an executive-branch employee, the Senate could sue to enforce a subpoena on its own, without relying on Trump’s Justice Department.
Democrats could also go around him. They could subpoena Affinity, its auditor Ernst & Young, its custodian banks, including Bank of America, and partners in deals like the firm’s acquisition of Electronic Arts with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Investigators could demand records of Kushner’s reported WhatsApp messages with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and they could also seek details on reports that he pitched investors for billions while attending Davos as part of the official U.S. delegation.
“Since 2025, Democrats have sent letters demanding information into the void and Kushner has continued to act with impunity,” Legum and Crosby wrote. “Those days should be coming to an end.”
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