published Mar 29th 2017, 4:10 pm, by Ben Brody, Lindsey Rupp and Bill Allison

(Bloomberg) —
Ivanka Trump said she will become an official unpaid federal employee after Democratic lawmakers said her unspecified role advising her father, President Donald Trump, raised questions about how she’d avoid conflicts-of-interests.

“I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the President in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees,” Ivanka Trump said in a statement Wednesday. “Throughout this process I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House Counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role.”

Her statement came just hours after Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper released a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, asking whether the White House sought the agency’s guidance on the first daughter’s position. The senators also asked what the consequences would be if Ivanka Trump violated rules that apply to regular full-time employees and what financial disclosures she would be required to make.

The White House praised the move.

“We are pleased that Ivanka Trump has chosen to take this step in her unprecedented role as First Daughter and in support of the President,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday. “Ivanka’s service as an unpaid employee furthers our commitment to ethics, transparency, and compliance and affords her increased opportunities to lead initiatives driving real policy benefits for the American public that would not have been available to her previously.”

Ethics Provisions

Federal employees have to abide by stringent ethics provisions that can force them to divest assets and avoid participation in some decisions. “Special Government Employees,” which can include unpaid advisers who serve in government 130 days a year or fewer, face a lower standard. Still, SGEs are subject to conflict-of-interest statutes and in some circumstances can be required to divest assets.

Ivanka Trump announced in January that she was handing day-to-day management of her brand to top lieutenant Abigail Klem. A closely held company licenses her name to vendors that make goods, including a $100 million apparel line made by G-III Apparel Group, as well as shoes and accessories. She has transferred the company’s assets to a new trust overseen by relatives of her husband, Jared Kushner, but she has retained ownership and receives payouts.

Phone calls to a spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump requesting comment on whether she intends to divest from her company weren’t immediately returned.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Brody in Washington at btenerellabr@bloomberg.net ;Lindsey Rupp in New York at lrupp2@bloomberg.net ;Bill Allison in Washington at ballison14@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joshua Gallu at jgallu@bloomberg.net John Voskuhl

COPYRIGHT© 2017 Bloomberg L.P