US President Donald Trump is to announce that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will oversee a broad effort to overhaul the federal government, a White House official confirmed.
Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and currently serves as a senior adviser, will lead the newly formed White House Office of American Innovation to leverage business ideas and potentially privatize some government functions, the official said, confirming a Washington Post story.
"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 in an interview.
He will focus on veterans' care, opioid addiction, technology and data infrastructure, workforce training and infrastructure, according to the report.
In a statement to the Post, Trump said: "I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my ‘ahead of schedule, under budget’ mentality to the government."
The move comes days after Trump suffered his first major political setback since taking office in January. Fellow Republicans pulled their healthcare plan after years of promising to undo former President Barack Obama's 2010 health law.
The announcement will come one week after Ivanka Trump received her own office in the White House along with access to classified information and a government-issued phone. Aides had said earlier she would not take on a role in her father's White House.
I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my ‘ahead of schedule, under budget’ mentality to the government.- Trump
Aides said she will collaborate with Kushner's innovation office but will not have an official role, according to the Post.
Kushner has been a regular presence at his father-in-law's side and was earlier cleared by the Justice Department to serve as a White House senior adviser even as Democrats raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
He has been given a wide range of domestic and foreign policy responsibilities, including working on a Middle East peace deal. He will continue to serve in the other roles even as he takes up the new duties, the Post reported.
The Post said the innovation team is working with key corporate executives at companies including Apple Inc, Salesforce.com Inc, IBM Corp and Tesla Inc .