It goes to the credit of Indian voters that they could realise absolute power has chances to turn a single party autocratic if elected for consecutive terms. Hence, they did not allow the Narendra Modi-led BJP to get a majority on its own when it sought their clear mandate a few months back for forming a government with a simple majority for the third time in a row. But, the fears of US President-elect Donald Trump displaying autocratic tendencies in full fury once he gets back to the White House for the second time after a hiatus of four years seem to be coming true. As a starter, Trump has urged the senators of his Republican Party, which has regained a majority in the upper chamber of Congress due to a ‘wave’ that he may correctly attribute to his own popularity, to let him appoint some of his close confidants in top government positions without using their power to confirm the appointments. To say such a process is questionable is an understatement. It is a clear attack on the democratic institutions of that country as it blurs the principle of separation of powers. Confirmation hearings are usually tough and intense, intended to make the exercise democratic and ensure controversial characters are not elevated to the highest echelons of administration.
Trump’s request at face value appears rather unusual since any appointment that he proposes can be made without any difficulty as his party is all set to get a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
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The US Constitution states that a President’s nominees for positions such as Secretaries, Ambassadors and Judges are subject to the “the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” In other words, the Senate generally holds confirmation hearings to vet the President’s nominees before voting to confirm or reject them. The Constitution also allows the President to unilaterally fill vacancies in case of an emergency during a Senate recess as matters would not wait till the Senate resumes its session. Such appointments expire at the end of the Congress, meaning they would be valid, at the most, for two years.
The answer to the question why Trump is beginning his new term courting a controversy is not far to seek. The list of his proposed appointees makes it clear. A host on the conservative Fox News channel who has long made pandering to the Republican president-elect into his sole editorial line, has been nominated for the position of Secretary of Defence. This prestigious and important office is traditionally held by people with great experience of a global nature.
Likewise, the choice of Tulsi Gabbard, who also worked for Fox News, as director of national intelligence – the head of 18 intelligence agencies – raises similar issues. Gabbard’s lack of qualifications in such a sensitive field has raised questions, as have her past erratic statements, with overtones of conspiracy theories and her goodwill towards Russia and its allies.
Equally shocking is Florida Representative Matt Gaetz’s nomination as Attorney General. He is under investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee for personal misdeeds.
Trump has already betrayed the same sense of open contempt for US institutional norms by choosing the country’s and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, whose companies hugely benefit from federal contracts, to head a hatchet commission titled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that aims to slash federal spending and subvert rules. This commission is to operate outside of the Cabinet so as to avoid scrutiny of the Senate. It is no rocket science to understand the liaison between Trump and Musk who put his social media platform ‘X’ at the service of Trump during the run-up to the presidential election. Admittedly, Musk has made the English phrase ‘no rocket science’ redundant by his backyard company called SpaceX. He makes rockets, sends them to space and wants to colonize other planets. To get an idea of how DOGE might operate, people in Orissa will simply have to look back at the manner 5T was working in the past in this state.
Trump seems to be itching to settle scores with federal government institutions with which he came into direct confrontation when he was licking his wounds after defeat in the 2020 election. Senate Republicans do not seem to be in a position to convince him it does not behove an American President to take such a vindictive and revengeful course in the name of running the country. But then, that is Donald Trump!
