Trump echoes Reagan with new privatization office led by son-in-law Jared Kushner

Trump’s plan to put his son-in-law, who has no government experience, in charge of reorganizing the enormous federal government, has many concerned. Jeremy Mohler of In the Public Interest writes, “the move harkens back to Ronald Reagan’s 1987 commission on privatization, which recommended privatizing prisons, the Postal Service, and many other government functions.” Prominent attorney Ron Klain writes that it’s a bait-and-switch: “there is reason to suspect that the Office of American Innovation is just a front for an effort to peel away environmental, health, safety and consumer-protection rules in the name of making government more efficient.” Elizabeth Spiers, who worked for Kushner, says “he’s the wrong man for the job,” citing his real estate mentality and business innovation blind spots. Marilyn Park, legislative representative on veterans’ issues for the American Federation of Government Employees, said “I'm very concerned that this ‘reimagining’ effort is another name for dismantling the Veterans Association.”