Today I participated in my bi-weekly, Friday ritual. I clinch the volume button on the side of my phone several times attempting to compile a few extra moments of sleep, followed by a staring contest with my ceiling that is always interrupted by the booby-trapped backup alarm buried at the bottom of the list. In the routine of switching through news feeds is when I usually remember my direct deposit dropped at midnight. Each time the same five digits populate my screen – I’ll let you decide where the decimal point is located – and if the numbers were translated it would read, “rent and other assorted bills”. This process is  followed by the thought of I am either underpaid, or under qualified.

As the White House released its 2017 report, disclosing the salaries of White House staff, it was hard to overlook the unexplainable salary of Jared Kushner. “Kush” – as his frat brothers call him – is the husband of 45’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, and although we have rarely heard from him, Jared has some explaining to do. Since Inauguration Day, Jared has been named Assistant to the President, and a Senior Advisor. When given his to-do list for this administration, his tasks were to coordinate meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, reform our country's Criminal Justice System, reform Veteran care, tackle the opioid epidemic, broker peace in the Middle East, and to revamp the entire Federal Government, if he had time. Walking into an interview with any one of those jobs on a resume would leave all other candidates behind, but juggling all those responsibilities at once seems comically on course with the theme of 2017 (if only we could see the introductory text Jared sent to the world leaders, asking if they prefer to communicate via phone or email). With so many of our country’s important tasks resting on the shoulders of one Harvard educated thirty-six-year-old, I’m starting to wonder if a $0.00 annual salary makes Jared Kushner underpaid or over qualified.

Since he is not being paid by the federal government, his “position” presents no conflict of interest if he slips up and mentions his own personal business dealings while meeting with other world leaders.

See the complete list of White House staff salaries here:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/disclosures/07012017-report-final.pdf