Jeff Hauser says Kushner should face Senate confirmation and divest assets if he keeps his envoy role
Jeff HauserFounder and executive director of the Revolving Door Project, in an emailed statement
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, said in an email that Jared Kushner has still not filed an updated financial disclosure. He said that if Kushner continues as a roving envoy, he should be appointed to an ambassadorial or senior State Department post, face Senate confirmation and divest assets that give him interests different from the nation's. He added that a 1977 Justice Department opinion on informal presidential advisers, while not necessarily controlling, agrees with his assessment.
“Jared Kushner has still not filed an updated financial disclosure ... I think that Kushner, if he is to continue serving as a roving Ambassador, should be appointed to an Ambassadorial or high ranking State Department job and stand for confirmation before the Senate. That would both give his work legal legitimacy as well as require him to divest assets that give him a different set of interests personally than the nation as a whole.”
Emailed statement
Read the full email
1. Jared Kushner has still not filed an updated financial disclosure--see https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/201+Request?OpenForm to confirm. 2. I don't believe that Justice Department opinion is necessarily controlling, but I also think it concurs with my assessment. Kushner has been appointed by the President to engage in "federal functions" of diplomacy. His diplomatic work brings him into direct contract with many current federal employees in the State Department, National Security Council, Commerce Department, and elsewhere across the government. Under this analysis, Kushner fits every prong of the standard, even as I would argue that either the 2nd or third prong alone would suffice. 3. I think that Kushner, if he is to continue serving as a roving Ambassador, should be appointed to an Ambassadorial or high ranking State Department job and stand for confirmation before the Senate. That would both give his work legal legitimacy as well as require him to divest assets that give him a different set of interests personally than the nation as a whole.
Where this statement fits
Does Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners conflict with his role in Middle East negotiations, as congressional Democrats and ethics groups say?
Jared Kushner founded the investment firm Affinity Partners in January 2021. Since 2025 he has taken part in U.S. diplomatic talks on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine. Congressional Democrats, the ethics group CREW and other critics say the two roles conflict. They point to the firm's funding from foreign governments, its stakes in Israeli companies and reports that it sought new capital while he negotiated. Kushner, his lawyers, Affinity and the White House dispute that. A CNN investigation published October 1, 2026 reported that Affinity is the largest shareholder in the Israeli insurer Phoenix Financial, which holds stakes in companies that supply Israel's military, and that CNN found no indication his diplomacy directly affected the investments it reviewed. Kushner replied on October 2 that Phoenix is not a defense company and that he has no role in its investment decisions. The White House says he works on a volunteer basis. As of October 4, 2026, we did not find a ruling or finding on the question from a court, agency or committee, and we could not locate a response from Kushner to two letters from Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Source and context
Emailed statement
Emailed statement from Jeff Hauser to Dispute Index on Kushner's financial disclosure and envoy role
1. Jared Kushner has still not filed an updated financial disclosure--see https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/201+Request?OpenForm to confirm. 2. I don't believe that Justice Department opinion is necessarily controlling, but I also think it concurs with my assessment. Kushner has been appointed by the President to engage in "federal functions" of diplomacy. His diplomatic work brings him into direct contract with many current federal employees in the State Department, National Security Council, Commerce Department, and elsewhere across the government. Under this analysis, Kushner fits every prong of the standard, even as I would argue that either the 2nd or third prong alone would suffice. 3. I think that Kushner, if he is to continue serving as a roving Ambassador, should be appointed to an Ambassadorial or high ranking State Department job and stand for confirmation before the Senate. That would both give his work legal legitimacy as well as require him to divest assets that give him a different set of interests personally than the nation as a whole.
About this source
Emailed reply from Jeff Hauser, founder and executive director of the Revolving Door Project, to Dispute Index questions about Jared Kushner's financial disclosure, a 1977 Justice Department opinion on informal presidential advisers and what ethics arrangement an envoy in Kushner's position should have.
Before the quotation
Dispute Index asked Hauser on October 5, 2026 whether the Revolving Door Project's March 20 statement that Kushner had not filed a public financial disclosure report still held, how he reads a 1977 Justice Department opinion on informal presidential advisers as applied to Kushner, and what ethics arrangement an envoy in Kushner's position should have. His reply answers the three questions in turn.
After the quotation
For his first point, Hauser pointed to the Office of Government Ethics request form for presidential appointees' financial disclosure reports as the way to confirm that no updated report has been filed.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the proposition that Kushner's private business through Affinity, including its Israeli investments and Gulf capital, creates a conflict of interest with his role in U.S. Middle East negotiations. Hauser says Kushner should not keep the envoy role on its current terms without Senate confirmation and divestment of assets that give him personal interests different from the nation's, so we used Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, because he proposes a way for Kushner to keep serving; it loses because that proposal rests on his judgment that the current arrangement leaves Kushner with conflicting interests.
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More from this case
Read the full caseMizelle defends Kushner's volunteer arrangement
“his arrangements comply with applicable ethics requirements”Read statement
Kushner denies using diplomacy for private benefit
“I have never taken a diplomatic action to benefit Affinity, myself, or any investor.”Read statement
Borelli disputes the conflict inference from Affinity's indirect defense investments
“small part”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Jeff Hauser says Kushner should face Senate confirmation and divest assets if he keeps his envoy role". First published: 2026-10-14. Last updated: 2026-10-14. https://disputeindex.com/events/5734-jeff-hauser-executive-director-of-the-revolving-door