White House releases names of presidential aides with approved ethics waivers

More than a dozen White House staffers have been granted ethics waivers, officials announced late Wednesday.

The waivers were permitted for four former lobbyists and others who are working in President Donald Trump's administration, NPR reported.

Trump has said that senior officials his administration has hired are barred from working on some matters that involve former clients or employers for a period of two years, with some exceptions, The Associated Press reported.

President Barack Obama had similar rules in place and also allowed some waivers.

Included in the ethics waivers list:

• Reince Priebus, who may take part in meetings with the Republican National Committee. Priebus had been the head of the RNC from January 2011 until he took over as Trump's chief of staff after the November election.
• Kellyanne Conway is allowed to still have meetings and communication with former clients when it comes to political, advocacy, trade or nonprofit organization topics.
• Shahira Knight used to work for Fidelity, according to the AP, which specializes on setting up retirement accounts and retirement planning. She has been granted a waiver to work on the administration's retirement, tax and financial services issues.
• "Blanket" waivers cover staffers like Steve Bannon, Breitbart's former chief executive and allow him and others to contact members of the media to set up meetings and other communications on "broad policy matters."