BALTIMORE-Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to President Donald Trump, will recuse himself from any policy discussion related to federal rental assistance for low-income tenants because his real estate company's Baltimore-area properties receive money from the U.S. housing department's voucher program, the White House said.
Three apartment complexes owned by the Kushner Cos. in Maryland lease units to tenants whose rent is partially paid with Housing Choice vouchers. Those vouchers, previously known as Section 8, are financed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The agency would not say how much federal money the Kushner Cos. Have received.
Kushner Cos. own apartments in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Prince George's County in Maryland, and in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
A White House official with knowledge of Kushner's holdings said the New York businessman will comply with all financial disclosure rules and recuse himself "from any particular matter concerning HUD's rental voucher program."
Some analysts say Kushner needs to do more to distance himself from his family's business to avoid violating federal ethics rules that prohibit officials from participating in decisions that could benefit them financially.
Richard W. Painter, who was President George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer, said federal conflict-of-interest law specifically bars Kushner from involvement in decisions that might affect his properties - and his immediate colleagues should also keep their distance.
"Although (White House) staff could legally get involved in those matters," he said, "the appearances would be awful."
Painter has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest between Trump's businesses and his administration. Painter, Obama ethics lawyer Norm Eisen and others filed a lawsuit last month claiming that Trump is violating the Constitution's emoluments clause by accepting payments from foreign governments at his hotels and other businesses.
Kushner is married to Trump's daughter, Ivanka. Trump has named him senior adviser to the president.
As a senior government official, Kushner is required to submit a financial disclosure form to the Office of Government Ethics, the agency that oversees ethics in the executive branch. His form has not yet been made available to the public.
HUD budgeted nearly $21 billion last year to provide rental housing assistance to 2.2 million low-income families through the Housing Choice voucher program. The department also budgeted nearly $11 billion for a program that supports "12 months of funding for rental assistance contracts with public and private owners who maintain affordable rental housing for 1.2 million families," according to HUD documents.
A spokesman for the Kushner Cos. said Kushner resigned as chief executive Jan. 19, the day before Trump was inaugurated, and is selling his interests in all foreign investments and other businesses. Some assets are to be sold to a trust controlled by family members.
The spokesman said the Kushner Cos. has no plans to sell its Maryland holdings.
According to the Office of Government Ethics, employees should "obtain specific authorization before participating in certain government matters where their impartiality is likely to be questioned."
A federal criminal statute prohibits executive branch employees from participating personally and substantially in a particular government matter that will affect their own financial interests or the financial interests of certain individuals, including relatives, with whom he has ties to outside the government.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., the top-ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, said Kushner's HUD income should be disclosed.
"The receipt by President Trump and his family of taxpayer funds through public housing programs creates the possibility of conflicts of interest for them and for the Department of Housing and Urban Development," Cummings said. "I believe we need a full accounting of how much money President Trump and his family are making from American taxpayers and how these conflicts are being managed."
Cummings has pressed his colleagues to investigate Trump's finances for potential conflicts of interest.