I can see that working as a part of a private contract, I'm just not sure it's constitutional for the government to prevent one person from doing something based on their relationship to another person. Especially spouses, but perhaps even children.
So as a government official with appointment authority, should I be allowed to hire my wife to work for my agency in a role they may or may not be qualified for?
It’s pretty easy to see how this stuff goes off the rails.
I think that's different. This isn't about appointing someone to a job, it's about preventing one person from trade with another strictly because of their marriage.
Say if I was a Senator, and I had the ability to kill some legislation that would financially hurt Facebook using my committee post. I call my wife before the hearing and tell her to buy stock, is that ethical?
It's not ethical, but we're talking about the constitution, and fines or imprisonment. Should your wife go to jail if she buys stock while you're a senator? Would that be constitutional? I sincerely doubt it.
