Which is he, the Washington Post asks, in the context of evaluating his efforts to negotiate a settlement of the partial government shutdown. The answer, surely, is: neither.
The case for Kushner as ace negotiator seems to rest on his success in helping to push leniency for felons legislation through Congress. As one who was on the other side in the fight, I concede that Kushner’s work was impressive.
But the key to it wasn’t negotiating. The key was Kushner getting his father-in-law to buy in.
After that, Kushner did a good job working Republican Senators. However, these efforts were aided by powerful conservative interests, including the Koch Brothers and the Heritage Foundation.
It’s one thing to be able, with the help of interest groups, to persuade Republican Senators to back reform legislation with libertarian overtones. It’s quite another to persuade Democrats to compromise in what they see as a make-or-break contest for a president they detest.
Kushner may have generated some goodwill among Democrats for helping with the jailbreak bill. But anyone who thinks such goodwill might translate into concessions in the shutdown showdown is dreaming.
This doesn’t make Kushner a nonentity in the showdown, though. According to the Post, Senators from both parties disparage him for lack of experience and understanding of Senate dynamics. The criticism may be valid, but as long as Kushner has President Trump’s ear, he cannot be considered a nonentity.
In the shutdown showdown, Kushner reportedly is urging a hardline position, on the theory that eventually enough Democrats will lose their nerve to force Nancy Pelosi to compromise. Considering the stakes of this showdown, Kushner risks losing influence at the White House if he’s wrong.
I hope Kushner is not wrong, but I wouldn’t mind if he lost influence.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.