Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., was asked whether the sons and daughters of sitting presidents should have their own code of conduct in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
What’s hard about actual behavioral rules is that it’s not like the kids did anything to get in the position of “child of a president” and with the age of current presidents…Don Jr is 44, Beau would have been 54. They are full grown adults with careers. Imagine one of them was working their way up the ranks of the UN, or maybe they could even be a congressman, and then their parent becomes president and what, they have to quit? What if they refuse, who is punished? What if it’s something like the Trump org where it’s a family-owned institution, and the kids are taking control so that the president doesn’t control it while in office, do they have to find like a weird cousin?
And then, if you are making someone quit because their parent is president…you definitely have to give them a job in the White House, right? You can’t just force them to cook burgers for 4-8 years, and getting them a job on a board or whatever is going to be controversial too. Giving a nepotism job is bad, but you’re also forcing them to quit their non-nepotism job so I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do.
So anyway, that’s why just disclosures is probably the best option. Though it does need to be a legal requirement and not just a norm, because otherwise the people who need to be forced to disclose the most will just refuse to do it.
What’s hard about actual behavioral rules is that it’s not like the kids did anything to get in the position of “child of a president” and with the age of current presidents…Don Jr is 44, Beau would have been 54. They are full grown adults with careers. Imagine one of them was working their way up the ranks of the UN, or maybe they could even be a congressman, and then their parent becomes president and what, they have to quit? What if they refuse, who is punished? What if it’s something like the Trump org where it’s a family-owned institution, and the kids are taking control so that the president doesn’t control it while in office, do they have to find like a weird cousin?
And then, if you are making someone quit because their parent is president…you definitely have to give them a job in the White House, right? You can’t just force them to cook burgers for 4-8 years, and getting them a job on a board or whatever is going to be controversial too. Giving a nepotism job is bad, but you’re also forcing them to quit their non-nepotism job so I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do.
So anyway, that’s why just disclosures is probably the best option. Though it does need to be a legal requirement and not just a norm, because otherwise the people who need to be forced to disclose the most will just refuse to do it.