Billionaire Elon Musk wants to cut trillions of dollars through the new Department of Government Efficiency. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
There is a silver lining to watching the house of horrors unfold in Washington as America’s Red Menace makes his captain’s picks for a Cabinet.
Imagine if Gina Rinehart got the call from Peter Dutton to take charge of, say, industrial relations or the environment.
Can’t happen here.
But if you’re thinking Dracula in charge of the blood bank or foxes running the hen house, or in Trump’s case, Fox News in charge at the Pentagon, you’d be on the money.
It’s a peculiarity of the US system that the President can tap unelected private sector ‘experts’ to be responsible for departments and agencies.
In years past, both sides have at least sought out people with legitimate expertise who view their role as a public duty within the institutions of government.
But as the Republican Party became more disengaged from the establishment, purged of its sensible centre and replaced it with MAGA zealots brought in from the fringes, the President’s picks turned wacky.
Eight years on from Trump 1.0, the takeover is complete, best exemplified by the appointment of the world’s richest man and now best buddy Elon Musk to run his own razor gang of the Orwellian-sounding Department of Government Efficiency, although technically it isn’t a cabinet position. No conflict of interest there.
Or there is Trump’s pick for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, a National Guard veteran and Fox News presenter without any administrative experience who has called for a purge of generals.
The man chosen to run the Environment Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, is promising “fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American business while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards”. Sure.
Education is undecided, but whoever it is will likely oversee a dismantling of public education if Trump’s rhetoric is anything to go by.
But even some Republicans are shocked at the choice of Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney-General. He was investigated by the justice department in a sex-trafficking case, though no changes were brought, and was under investigation by the House ethics committee amid allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
Then there are the immigration hardliners and China hawks.
And so it goes.
A cabinet of Trump loyalists first and the notion of competent public administration or even a belief in government itself are well down the list.
In 2016, Trump said he would drain the Washington swamp. Well, in 2024 there are all kinds of creatures emerging from the murky waters to do their master’s bidding.
Be careful what you wish for.
The idea of the Prime Minister being able to call on people from outside of government to serve in cabinet has been raised in Australia.
In his 1979 Boyer Lecture, Bob Hawke called for one-quarter of positions in the ministry to be opened to non-politicians.
“There is a considerable range of relevant and proven talent within the community which, while not desiring to be immersed in the party-political electoral processes, would nevertheless be available and keen to serve the country in government,” he said.
Hawke said they could still be responsible to Parliament by being present at Question Time and any debates relevant to their portfolios. They would have the right to speak in Parliament but not to vote.
At the time, it sounded like a reasonable proposition, but the passage of time has not been kind to it, and the goings-on in the US only add to arguments against such a move.
The key one is that ministers should be elected and ultimately responsible to the people. There remains plenty of scope for ministers to take expert advice from within and outside the public service.
It would require a change to the Constitution, so it remains unlikely.
The Westminster system of government may have its flaws, as Hawke contended, but it continues to serve the nation well, and its traditions and conventions have proved resilient and essential to Australian democracy.
As the train wreck that will be the second Trump administration over the next four years becomes apparent, Australians should be grateful for the way we govern ourselves, uphold the rule of law and generally shun extremism.
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