March 27 (UPI) — Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump‘s son-in-law and senior adviser, will lead a new White House office in the West Wing that will seek to tackle “government stagnation” with a business mentality, a White House official said.
The White House Office of American Innovation will be staffed by former business executives. It is designed to inspire new ideas and supersede the daily political repetitiveness of Washington, D.C.
“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,” Trump said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my ‘ahead-of-schedule, under-budget’ mentality to the government.”
A senior White House official told Fox News the administration will officially announce the office Monday.
Kushner, 36, would report directly to Trump under his new role, adding to his responsibilities as senior adviser to the president. The new office will have the authority to overhaul federal bureaucracy, officials said. The office will seek to fulfill some of Trump’s campaign promises, including healthcare reform for veterans.
The office could in some cases direct that some government functions be privatized or that existing contracts be awarded to new bidders, officials said.
Kushner said the new office will work aggressively without ideological focus as “an offensive team” to come up with ideas to solve problems and to attract top talent from within and outside of the government.
“We should have excellence in government,” Kushner said on Sunday. “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.”
