If confirmed, five Indian-Americans are likely to be top-tier players in the new US administration, rewarded for their ideological beliefs and personal loyalty to President-elect Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, several are lawyers with considerable public involvement in Republican and right-wing political issues. Despite a slim Republican majority, all are not assured of confirmation by the US Senate, which must approve top-level presidential appointments
The President-elect has chosen a different criterion for selecting his cabinet than during his last term. Now, relevant experience or educational background appears unnecessary. His 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
Kamala Harris has been taking some personal time after a four-month rushed campaign for the top spot. Her seven more weeks as vice-president end with Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025. Harris won 60 percent of the votes in Hawaii, where she and husband Doug Emhoff have relaxed for a long week, no doubt asking themselves how could we have come so close and lost to that angry guy as well as losing control of the entire Congress? Some answers follow:
The people nominated for 15 key posts by President-elect Donald Trump shows that extreme loyalty to him is an absolute pre-requisite, with skill or experience a secondary consideration. Confirmations are probable as Republicans have a four-vote Senate majority. Any Republican senator who joins Democrats to oppose Trump will be shamed and hounded for demonstrating judgment and personal courage
Donald Trump’s strong victory for a second term return to the US presidency marks the end of 80 years of political alignments where America supported an age of global democracy, not without missteps, but generally with national independence as a key goal. In making this choice, the American citizens have trashed the post-World War II approach by backing a candidate who openly dismisses diversity and equality as key elements of a nation built on immigration over 250 years
India and the world will have to wait several days or more to analyze the consequences of presidential polls with its global implications for democracy and authoritarianism