JFK hired his own quirky brother to cover his ass as Attorney General and nobody thought it was strange at the time.
but an anti nepotism law was passed after that because of the implications.
CRS Reports & AnalysisLegal SidebarThe Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute: Limits onAppointing, Hiring, and Promoting Relatives
12/01/2016
The process of presidential transition has raised questions about who may be appointed to certain executive posts in theWhite House, an issue addressed under a federal law commonly known as the anti-nepotism statute. Nepotism is definedgenerally as the exercise of favoritism by a person in a position of authority towards that person’s relatives, particularlygiving them jobs. The federal anti-nepotism statute applies to all public officials (including the President and Membersof Congress) in all three branches of the federal government. Such officials are barred from appointing, hiring, orpromoting – or advocating for the appointment, hiring, or promotion of - a specific class of relatives to a civilianposition in the agency in which that official serves or over which the official exercises authority.
History.
Congress passed the prohibition in 1967 to address long-standing criticisms of the practice of some federalofficials, particularly some Members of Congress as well as certain postal officials, placing relatives on the federalpayroll. Sometimes referred to as the “Bobby Kennedy law,” media reports often suggest that its passage was acongressional response to President John F. Kennedy’s appointment of his brother as Attorney General. Despite thiscommon perception and substantial criticism of congressional practices leading up to the passage of the law, theprovision’s sponsor indicated that the impetus was to address the practice of many local post-masters who put theirwives on the public payroll to clerk in small, local post offices. The legislative history clarified that the prohibitionwould apply broadly, stating that it would prohibit “all persons, including the President, Vice President, and Members ofCongress, having authority to make appointments of civilian officers or employees in the Federal service.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/nepotism.pdf
5 U.S. Code § 3110. Employment of relatives; restrictions
(a) For the purpose of this section—
agency” means—
(A)
an Executive agency;
(B)
an office, agency, or other establishment in the legislative branch;
(C)
an office, agency, or other establishment in the judicial branch; and
(D)
the government of the District of Columbia;
(2)
“public official” means an officer (including the President and a Member of Congress), a member of the uniformed service, an employee and any other individual, in whom is vested the authority by law, rule, or regulation, or to whom the authority has been delegated, to appoint, employ, promote, or advance individuals, or to recommend individuals for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in connection with employment in an agency; and
(3)
“relative” means, with respect to a public official, an individual who is related to the public official as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister.
5 U.S. Code § 3110 - Employment of relatives; restrictions
Same with AG Barr,
Mary Daly, Barr's oldest daughter and the director of Opioid Enforcement and Prevention Efforts in the deputy attorney general's office, is leaving for a position at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Treasury Department's financial crimes unit, a Justice official said.
Tyler McGaughey, the husband of Barr's youngest daughter, has been detailed from the powerful US attorney's office in Alexandria, Virginia, to the White House counsel's office, two officials said.
It's not clear if McGaughey's switch is a result of Barr's pending new role, and the kind of work he'll be handling at the White House is not public knowledge.
Daly's husband will remain in his position in the Justice Department's National Security Division for now.
The moves were by choice and are not required under federal nepotism laws, but Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, called them "a good idea" to "avoid the bad optics that could come from the appearance of them working for him."
However, Shaub added that McGaughey's detail to the White House counsel's office was "concerning."
"That's troubling because it raises further questions about Barr's independence," Shaub said.
Daughter and son-in-law of AG nominee leaving the Justice Department - CNNPolitics