Office of American Innovation

The Office of American Innovation (OAI) was an office within the White House Office created by the Trump administration on March 27, 2017.^[1]

Office of American Innovation

Agency overview
Formed	March 27, 2017
Dissolved	January 20, 2021
Headquarters	White House
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President of the United States

Former Director Jared Kushner

History

The purpose of the office was to "make recommendations to the President on policies and plans that improve Government operations and services, improve the quality of life for Americans now and in the future, and spur job creation."^[2]

The Office was directed by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner,^[3][4][5] Senior Advisor to the President. The other members, according to the founding memorandum,^[1] are the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff (John F. Kelly at its establishment and then Mick Mulvaney and Mark Meadows), the Senior Advisor to the President for Policy (Stephen Miller), the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (Larry Kudlow), the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (Andrew Bremberg), the Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives (Chris Liddell), the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives (Brooke Rollins),^[6] the Senior Counselor to the President for Economic Initiatives (was Dina Powell - position vacant March 2018), the Assistant to the President for Strategic Communications, the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President (Nick Ayers), and the Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary (Derek Lyons)

In July 2017, the Office's operational team consisted of Kushner, Liddell, Reed Cordish (the predecessor to Brooke Rollins), and Matt Lira.^[7] Communications were run by Josh Raffel, a former Hollywood public relations executive,^[8][9] until February 2018, when Raffel announced his resignation from the position.^[10]

In February 2018, Democracy Forward Foundation and Food & Water Watch have brought a complaint against the OAI to compel its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.^[11]

Between April 2019 to November 2020, Ja'Ron Smith served as the office's Deputy Director.^[12][13]

References

1. "Presidential Memorandum on The White House Office of American Innovation". whitehouse.gov. March 27, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017 – via National Archives.
2. "Presidential Memorandum on The White House Office of American Innovation". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved March 19, 2018 – via National Archives.
3. Ashley Parker; Philip Rucker (March 26, 2017). "Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
4. "Trump taps Kushner to lead new White House Office of American Innovation". USA Today. March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
5. Bender, Michael C. (March 27, 2017). "Kushner to Oversee Office of American Innovation at White House". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2017 – via www.wsj.com.
6. O'Connell, Jonathan (February 16, 2018). "Trump tech adviser Reed Cordish is leaving the White House". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
7. Scola, Nancy (July 1, 2017). "What Jared's office actually does". Politico.
8. Masters, Kim. "Jared Kushner Hiring Hollywood PR Exec for White House Role (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
9. Palmeri, Tara (July 6, 2017). "Trump's aides build their own empires in the West Wing". Politico. Retrieved July 6, 2017. Senior adviser Jared Kushner has two staffers working directly below him, as well as another five in the newly created Office of American Innovation who are focused on his portfolio of White House issues. Included in that mix is a communications adviser, Josh Raffel, a former Hollywood PR exec who previously repped Kushner's real estate work.
10. Diamond, Jeremy. "Top White House aide linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner is leaving". CNN. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
11. PDF
12. "Annual Report to Congress on White House Personnel 2020" (PDF). whitehouse.gov. June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020 – via National Archives.
13. Connolly, Griffin (November 7, 2020). "Ja'Ron Smith, highest-ranking Black Trump adviser, has left the White House". The Independent. Retrieved November 24, 2020.