Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead new White House office to streamline government

US President Donald Trump is set to announce a new White House office on Monday (27 March) to be run by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. The innovation office will aim to streamline federal bureaucracy by using ideas from the business sector, according to the Washington Post.

The White House office of American Innovation will report directly to Trump and will operate as its own power centre in the West Wing.

Trump was quoted as saying, "All Americans, regardless of their political views, can recognize that government stagnation has hindered our ability to properly function, often creating widespread congestion and leading to cost overruns and delays."

"I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my 'ahead of schedule, under budget' mentality to the government."

The innovation office will focus on data and technology as the White House is working closely with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla's Elon Musk and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

To start off, the team reportedly plans to concentrate on reimagining Veterans Affairs, remodelling workforce training programmes and developing "transformative projects".

In an interview, Kushner said, "We should have excellence in government. The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens."

Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive of investment firm Blackstone Group said: "There is a need to figure out what policies are adding friction to the system without accompanying it with significant benefits."

"It's easy for the private sector to at least see where the friction is, and to do that very quickly and succinctly."