Congress wants Kellyanne Conway disciplined for hawking Ivanka Trump clothes. It won't happen.


On Thursday morning, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway sat in the White House briefing room and urged Americans to buy Ivanka Trump clothes on Fox News, explicitly calling it a "free commercial." House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and top Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), as promised, sent a joint letter to the head of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, seeking advice on "appropriate disciplinary action (such as reprimand, suspension, demotion, or dismissal)" over Conway's comments.
"Conway's statements clearly violate the ethical principles for federal employees and are unacceptable," Chaffetz and Cummings wrote, as well as appear "to violate federal ethics regulations." They asked Shaub to "act promptly" and get back to them, even while noting a crucial "additional challenge, which is that the president, as the ultimate disciplinary authority for White House employees, has an inherent conflict of interest since Conway's statements relate to his daughter's private business."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Thursday that Conway had been "counseled" on the issue, and appearing on Fox News on Thursday afternoon, Conway described that counseling as "a very heartening moment" because Trump "supports me 100 percent." Trump, Conway, and Spicer all accused Nordstrom of dumping the Ivanka Trump brand for political reasons, but a new report from Slice Intelligence backs up Nordstrom's contention that it was purely a business decision. According to Slice, online sales of Ivanka Trump goods fell 26 percent last quarter versus the year prior, and 63 percent at Nordstrom online alone.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On CNN on Thursday night, Cristina Alesci explained that Ivanka Trump executives told her a few months ago the brand was targeting millennial women in urban areas — the demographic perhaps most opposed to President Trump's policies. Still, she added, the blowback over Conway's comments "may not amount to much, because enforcement falls within the White House."
That's not to say nothing will come of l'affaire Nordstrom. The nonpartisan watchdog group the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) is asking for a Justice Department investigation of Conway and White House social media chief Dan Scavino, who retweeted Trump's Nordstrom tweet from the official POTUS account. On Wednesday, Obama administration ethics lawyer Norm Eisen offered to help Nordstrom sue Trump under unfair competition laws. "I do believe Nordstrom has a colorful claim," Eisen told MSNBC. "This will be another place where the courts will remind [Trump] he's not above the law."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Democrats: The 2028 race has begun
Feature Democratic primaries have already kicked off in South Carolina
-
The Pentagon's missing missiles
Feature The U.S. military is low on weapons. Can it restock before a major conflict breaks out?
-
Rescissions: Trump's push to control federal spending
Feature The GOP passed a bill to reduce funding for PBS, NPR and other public media stations
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement