There are two or three surprises among the nominations. To the point that even some Republicans did not understand them. The biggest is the choice of the Attorney General (Minister of Justice), Matt Gaetz, who is a sulphurous person. He was investigated in the House of Representatives for inappropriate sexual relations and drug use. The other nomination that calls for attention is that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is a former major in the National Guard and a Princeton graduate. But he has no experience in military management, no expertise in security issues. And we’re going to put him at the head of the Pentagon. His particularity is that he is a star anchor on Fox News. What appears is that Donald Trump prioritizes loyalty then media visibility. And, finally, people who support the Maga ideology [Make America Great Again : Rendre sa grandeur à l’Amérique]. It is not certain that if Matt Gaetz passes the Senate hearings, as is likely to be the case, all Republicans will support him.
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In this regard, Donald Trump alluded to the use of a clause that allows the president to make appointments when the Senate is not in session. Is this the end of “check and balance”, bipartisan control of American institutions?
Donald Trump could try to use this provision. Barak Obama had already tried to do this, without success. The Senate must no longer be in session. It must therefore be a decision of the senators. The Republicans who are in the majority would be able to vote for it. But will they do it? We must remember that only a third of the Senate is reconstituted every two years. So a third of the existing senators have been there for six years. Not everyone is Donald Trump fanatic, starting with John Thune, who has just been chosen as leader of the Republicans in the Senate. There is no guarantee that senators will somehow agree to turn a blind eye to everything Donald Trump does.
If Matt Gaetz were to be confirmed as Justice Secretary, would that mean the politicization of the Justice Department and the FBI that depends on it?
It is clear that there will be a politicization of the whole of Justice. By appointing an ultra-loyalist to this strategic position, Donald Trump’s goal is obviously to put an end to the proceedings against him. And it is not excluded that he will in turn launch a series of procedures against the Biden family, as the Republicans have been threatening to do for a while. The particularity is that in principle the Attorney General is independent, even if he is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. He is supposed to be above debate. In the case of Matt Gaetz, we are assured of the opposite. The astonishment of a certain number of elected officials, including among the Republicans, says a lot about this decision. It is even frightening to see such an important ministry entrusted to such a personality.
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Are American institutions able to resist what increasingly looks like an illiberal drift?
This is indeed the big question today. The fathers of the Nation established with the Constitution the system called “check and balance”, to counterbalance the powers of the President. Because the original fear was that of having an all-powerful president, almost equal to a monarch. They had probably never imagined a personality like Donald Trump. But in principle, the counter-powers should protect against this. We see that there is no longer any political counter-power. The House of Representatives and the Senate are controlled by the Republicans – and even more than that: it is the Trumpists who are in control. Joe Biden, for example, had difficulties with certain elected Democrats. We realize that the Republican Party, as it existed, has practically disappeared: it is the Trumpist party. The Supreme Court is also totally won over to Donald Trump, as we have seen. The United States is a federal state. There remain prerogatives which belong to the States. But Donald Trump’s central power is immense. This is the first president who says that on his first day in office he might behave like a dictator. This denotes a rather particular and authoritarian conception of power. I would add that for a long time, the press was considered the fourth power, a real counter-power. Today, this is no longer really the case. Newspapers have less and less weight, they are read much less. And some are controlled by businessmen. We saw the case of Washington Postowned by Jeff Bezos. He banned journalists from taking positions during the campaign. Finally, anyone who might oppose Donald Trump knows that his desire for revenge is immense. There is also a fear that exists. The counter-powers have not disappeared but are greatly weakened.
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