By Kenneth Tiven
Donald Trump goes with his gut feelings this time in organizing his government, believing a second term “mandate” demands he shrink its size as well as seeking retribution against anyone involved in investigating or prosecuting him since losing the presidency to Joe Biden in 2020. His unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 made him the 45th US president. He took advice from Republicans with Washington political experience, but his start was chaotic. He discovered that national leadership is different from bossing a family-owned real estate company. Where Trump demonstrates consistency is blaming the establishment-supplied advice for all the problems that stalked his first term, rather than admitting any responsibility.
This time it is different. He’s doing the selecting, but relevant experience or educational background appears unnecessary. Qualifications include super loyalty to Trump, especially how they look and dress. He is reprising how the Apprentice TV show was created. That hosting stint revived his failing career after business deals took him into bankruptcy in the late 1990s.
Trump’s unwillingness to select people based on competence and reputation to manage departments that spend billions of taxpayer dollars and have tens of thousands of employees is a problem for politicians and those organizations focused on responsible government. No surprise that Congressional Republicans have kept silent for the most part while Opposition has been loud and constant from others in and out of government. Trump’s picks require Senate confirmation for both the cabinet, whose leaders manage federal departments and for multiple levels of agency heads. He has a narrow three-vote margin in the Senate.
In the spotlight this week are rumours that he wants a new director for the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI). The FBI is the investigative agency that will seek judicial cause against anyone Trump believes treated him unfairly in the past. Ideally, he wants a person who believes in conspiracy theories, speaks apocalyptically, has a law degree and a track record that confirms personal loyalty rather than an oath to defend the US Constitution.
Among the finest option from his circle of acolytes is Kash Patel, who recently told interviewers he’d investigate anyone, who has written anything that offended Trump. Born Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel in 1980 near New York City, his Indian Gujarati parents had immigrated to the United States through Canada from East Africa. He prefers to be called “Kash”, often spelling Ka$h with a US dollar sign for the “s” letter. With a law degree and prosecutorial experience, he first came to Trump’s notice while working for controversial former Congressman Devin Nunes. That California dairy farmer/politician was publicly defending Trump against claims of Russian assistance in the 2016 election. Patel was the primary author of the Nunes memo discrediting the FBI by claiming it faked an application for a warrant for electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, a witness in the Russian investigation. Patel’s claim was disputed as a fabrication, but Trump’s allies made Patel a hero for writing it.
Trump was unhappy that the Pentagon leadership wouldn’t let him use soldiers against domestic rioters in 2022. After Secretary of Defense Mark Esper backed the generals, Trump replaced him with a lapdog. Then Trump appointed Patel as the Defense Secretary’s chief of staff, expecting Patel’s loyalty and macho style to keep a tight leash on him. These attributes are cause for the numerous objections to Patel, because historically an aggressive partisan is considered unsuited for the top law enforcement post in American government.
Patel’s style is obvious from the title of his 2023 book outlining his deep state conspiracy theory: Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. Trump endorsed the book as a “roadmap to end the Deep State’s reign”. The FBI director is not a Biden holdover, but was appointed to his 10-year term by Trump in 2017. The unusual length is meant to keep the job out of direct partisan political behaviour by the president. Director Chris Wray, whom Trump finds too non-partisan, is unlikely to resign, and firing him may be a step too far for Senate Republicans if not for the president-elect.
The circus-like atmosphere on appointments was immediately clear after the election because Trump’s first announced appointment was impulsive and unvetted. Congressman Matt Gaetz was already in trouble of his own making and had alienated many Congressional Republicans for his role in forcing out the Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Gaetz was also under investigation regarding allegations about sex and drug issues. The release of a House Ethics Committee report about his social behaviour with young women was suddenly hidden when the Trump appointment was announced. Political and legal opposition quickly surfaced, making Senate approval impossible and Trump’s support evaporated. Conservative former Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi is the replacement.
If Patel’s approval is considered difficult, there is even more question around Peter Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense. That department manages all the military groups, with nearly three million civilian and military employees, 750 military bases around the world, with an annual budget of $850 billion dollars in a six trillion-dollar federal budget. Incidentally, interest on borrowed money is the biggest single expense, since Republicans keep cutting taxes and must borrow money, which was attractive when interest rates were much lower than today.
Again, from out of nowhere comes the idea that Peter Hegseth, 44, a former combat soldier who has been a Fox News host is the choice. This was met with astonishment from both political parties. Hegseth is lobbying Republican senators to disregard his misogynist remarks about women in the military, as well as allegations that he committed sexual assault, engaged in public drinking to excess, sexually pursued female subordinates and was forced to resign leadership of two non-profit veterans groups for misconduct. Trump appeared this past week to be having serious conversations about picking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the job instead.
Controversy was immediately insured with the selection of Robert F Kennedy Jr., 70, to run the Health and Human Services, a mammoth agency with responsibility for medicine and health issues. For years, Kennedy has been a widely debunked anti-vaccination voice, claiming a relationship between autism and vaccines. During the Covid pandemic Trump fought with HHS officials over policy and treatment and has made his displeasure with them clear. Kennedy, as a skeptic of vaccines and many aspects of health policy, has been in opposition to the established leaders of American medicine for several decades. While this appeals to Trump, it guarantees fierce opposition to the appointment from medical and drug companies. Kennedy’s father was Robert Kennedy, his uncle was President John Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s.
The only nomination avoiding a buzz of Opposition so far is Florida Senator Mario Rubio, to be Secretary of State, the foreign policy arm of the administration. On the other hand, the choice of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Congresswoman as Director of National Intelligence, is confusing because she has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic party’s 2020 presidential nomination, leaving the party in 2022. Gabbard endorsed Trump in August and often campaigned with him. She has no experience in intelligence work compared to the current director.
Monetary policy involves primarily the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department. Both jobs have gone to men who were generous donors to Trump’s campaign. For Treasury, it is Scott Bessent, 62, a former money manager for George Soros and previously a big Democratic donor. He is an advocate for deficit reduction. He founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, got rich as hedge fund bosses often do.
The other man who wanted that job is Howard Lutnick, head of the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and also a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump’s transition operation. If confirmed, he will play a key role in carrying out Trump’s plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. This reporter worked there early in his career as a writer regarding economic efforts in rural America.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are getting a lot of attention for looking at ways to reduce government size and spending. Both are unpaid advisors enjoying attention as the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which is nothing but a Trumpian concept on paper at the moment.
This transfer of power does not fit into the concept of a peaceful transfer. The Trump team makes no secret of its desire to break norms and traditions. Discussions around the cabinet and agencies will go on for several weeks before any hearings, The process of vetting the candidates for security and financial issues takes time. After a month of delays, Trump’s team has finally agreed to some of the traditional rules about pre-employment vetting for these government leadership positions, but not all.
Officially, nothing can be concluded until Trump is sworn back into power on January 20, 2025. Eighty-three years ago this week—December 7, 1941—the Second World War engulfed the planet in a conflict that spawned, ultimately, independence for India and generations of global relationships that are now in question politically.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels
The post appeared first on .
Donald Trump goes with his gut feelings this time in organizing his government, believing a second term “mandate” demands he shrink its size as well as seeking retribution against anyone involved in investigating or prosecuting him since losing the presidency to Joe Biden in 2020. His unexpected defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 made him the 45th US president. He took advice from Republicans with Washington political experience, but his start was chaotic. He discovered that national leadership is different from bossing a family-owned real estate company. Where Trump demonstrates consistency is blaming the establishment-supplied advice for all the problems that stalked his first term, rather than admitting any responsibility.
This time it is different. He’s doing the selecting, but relevant experience or educational background appears unnecessary. Qualifications include super loyalty to Trump, especially how they look and dress. He is reprising how the Apprentice TV show was created. That hosting stint revived his failing career after business deals took him into bankruptcy in the late 1990s.
Trump’s unwillingness to select people based on competence and reputation to manage departments that spend billions of taxpayer dollars and have tens of thousands of employees is a problem for politicians and those organizations focused on responsible government. No surprise that Congressional Republicans have kept silent for the most part while Opposition has been loud and constant from others in and out of government. Trump’s picks require Senate confirmation for both the cabinet, whose leaders manage federal departments and for multiple levels of agency heads. He has a narrow three-vote margin in the Senate.
In the spotlight this week are rumours that he wants a new director for the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI). The FBI is the investigative agency that will seek judicial cause against anyone Trump believes treated him unfairly in the past. Ideally, he wants a person who believes in conspiracy theories, speaks apocalyptically, has a law degree and a track record that confirms personal loyalty rather than an oath to defend the US Constitution.
Among the finest option from his circle of acolytes is Kash Patel, who recently told interviewers he’d investigate anyone, who has written anything that offended Trump. Born Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel in 1980 near New York City, his Indian Gujarati parents had immigrated to the United States through Canada from East Africa. He prefers to be called “Kash”, often spelling Ka$h with a US dollar sign for the “s” letter. With a law degree and prosecutorial experience, he first came to Trump’s notice while working for controversial former Congressman Devin Nunes. That California dairy farmer/politician was publicly defending Trump against claims of Russian assistance in the 2016 election. Patel was the primary author of the Nunes memo discrediting the FBI by claiming it faked an application for a warrant for electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, a witness in the Russian investigation. Patel’s claim was disputed as a fabrication, but Trump’s allies made Patel a hero for writing it.
Trump was unhappy that the Pentagon leadership wouldn’t let him use soldiers against domestic rioters in 2022. After Secretary of Defense Mark Esper backed the generals, Trump replaced him with a lapdog. Then Trump appointed Patel as the Defense Secretary’s chief of staff, expecting Patel’s loyalty and macho style to keep a tight leash on him. These attributes are cause for the numerous objections to Patel, because historically an aggressive partisan is considered unsuited for the top law enforcement post in American government.
Patel’s style is obvious from the title of his 2023 book outlining his deep state conspiracy theory: Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. Trump endorsed the book as a “roadmap to end the Deep State’s reign”. The FBI director is not a Biden holdover, but was appointed to his 10-year term by Trump in 2017. The unusual length is meant to keep the job out of direct partisan political behaviour by the president. Director Chris Wray, whom Trump finds too non-partisan, is unlikely to resign, and firing him may be a step too far for Senate Republicans if not for the president-elect.
The circus-like atmosphere on appointments was immediately clear after the election because Trump’s first announced appointment was impulsive and unvetted. Congressman Matt Gaetz was already in trouble of his own making and had alienated many Congressional Republicans for his role in forcing out the Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Gaetz was also under investigation regarding allegations about sex and drug issues. The release of a House Ethics Committee report about his social behaviour with young women was suddenly hidden when the Trump appointment was announced. Political and legal opposition quickly surfaced, making Senate approval impossible and Trump’s support evaporated. Conservative former Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi is the replacement.
If Patel’s approval is considered difficult, there is even more question around Peter Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense. That department manages all the military groups, with nearly three million civilian and military employees, 750 military bases around the world, with an annual budget of $850 billion dollars in a six trillion-dollar federal budget. Incidentally, interest on borrowed money is the biggest single expense, since Republicans keep cutting taxes and must borrow money, which was attractive when interest rates were much lower than today.
Again, from out of nowhere comes the idea that Peter Hegseth, 44, a former combat soldier who has been a Fox News host is the choice. This was met with astonishment from both political parties. Hegseth is lobbying Republican senators to disregard his misogynist remarks about women in the military, as well as allegations that he committed sexual assault, engaged in public drinking to excess, sexually pursued female subordinates and was forced to resign leadership of two non-profit veterans groups for misconduct. Trump appeared this past week to be having serious conversations about picking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the job instead.
Controversy was immediately insured with the selection of Robert F Kennedy Jr., 70, to run the Health and Human Services, a mammoth agency with responsibility for medicine and health issues. For years, Kennedy has been a widely debunked anti-vaccination voice, claiming a relationship between autism and vaccines. During the Covid pandemic Trump fought with HHS officials over policy and treatment and has made his displeasure with them clear. Kennedy, as a skeptic of vaccines and many aspects of health policy, has been in opposition to the established leaders of American medicine for several decades. While this appeals to Trump, it guarantees fierce opposition to the appointment from medical and drug companies. Kennedy’s father was Robert Kennedy, his uncle was President John Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s.
The only nomination avoiding a buzz of Opposition so far is Florida Senator Mario Rubio, to be Secretary of State, the foreign policy arm of the administration. On the other hand, the choice of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Congresswoman as Director of National Intelligence, is confusing because she has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic party’s 2020 presidential nomination, leaving the party in 2022. Gabbard endorsed Trump in August and often campaigned with him. She has no experience in intelligence work compared to the current director.
Monetary policy involves primarily the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department. Both jobs have gone to men who were generous donors to Trump’s campaign. For Treasury, it is Scott Bessent, 62, a former money manager for George Soros and previously a big Democratic donor. He is an advocate for deficit reduction. He founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, got rich as hedge fund bosses often do.
The other man who wanted that job is Howard Lutnick, head of the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and also a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump’s transition operation. If confirmed, he will play a key role in carrying out Trump’s plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. This reporter worked there early in his career as a writer regarding economic efforts in rural America.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are getting a lot of attention for looking at ways to reduce government size and spending. Both are unpaid advisors enjoying attention as the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which is nothing but a Trumpian concept on paper at the moment.
This transfer of power does not fit into the concept of a peaceful transfer. The Trump team makes no secret of its desire to break norms and traditions. Discussions around the cabinet and agencies will go on for several weeks before any hearings, The process of vetting the candidates for security and financial issues takes time. After a month of delays, Trump’s team has finally agreed to some of the traditional rules about pre-employment vetting for these government leadership positions, but not all.
Officially, nothing can be concluded until Trump is sworn back into power on January 20, 2025. Eighty-three years ago this week—December 7, 1941—the Second World War engulfed the planet in a conflict that spawned, ultimately, independence for India and generations of global relationships that are now in question politically.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels
The post appeared first on .