Politics

Tweet Raises Questions About Ivanka Trump's Influence

April 14th 2017

Before her father took office, it was widely assumed that first daughter Ivanka Trump would influence President Trump's agenda, using her clout on issues ranging from climate change to women's health.

Ivanka-TrumpAP Photo/Carolyn Kaster - apimages.com

But some have begun to wonder if the first daughter's influence has been overestimated. One tweet from Upworthy writer Parker Molloy showed three examples of Ivanka getting credit for taking stands on issues — generally favored by liberals — that administrative actions seem to contradict.

Let's examine these three issues in detail.

Exhibit A: Ivanka's reported plans to make climate change "one of her signature issues," haven't exactly come to fruition. Whether or not the first daughter has attempted to moderate her father's agenda is uncertain. But if she has taken steps to promote climate science internally, it hasn't translated into action.

factoryAP/Jim Cole - apimages.com

The Trump administration upended an Obama-era rule, the Clean Power Plan, that was designed to reduce the country's dependence of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and encourage the use of renewable energy sources. He appointed a climate change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — and proposed slashing the agency's funding by 31 percent in a draft budget.

Exhibit B: In January, Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, a senior advisor to the president, were credited for putting the brakes on an executive order that would have removed workplace protections for LGBT workers contracted by the federal government. A statement from the White House claimed the protections would "remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump."

But as The Advocate reported, President Trump signed an executive order on March 27 that scrubbed Obama's amendments granting those protections for LGBT workers. Numerous members of the president's cabinet have also expressed anti-LGBT views, as The Huffington Post noted.

Exhibit C: Ivanka was characterized as a potential advocate for Planned Parenthood, arranging a secret meeting with the organization's president, Cecile Richards, in January in an attempt to find middle ground on policy decisions affecting women's health services.

Yet plans to defund Planned Parenthood were nonetheless included in the GOP health care proposal (that was ultimately shelved due a lack of congressional support) that had the president's full backing. And on Thursday, Trump signed a law that enables state and local governments to strip funding of Planned Parenthood and other women's health facilities that provide abortion services.

That's not to say that Ivanka has been entirely incapable of affecting her father's agenda, though.

ivanka-trumpAP/Carolyn Kaster - apimages.com

She reportedly encouraged her father to take action against the Syrian regime after it dropped chemical weapons on a rebel-held province last week and the president followed through by ordering a missile strike against a Syrian air base on April 6. 

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