DOGE, Maha confusion and the Trump cabinet

Hello and welcome to another edition of The Weekly Vine. In this week’s edition, we take a look at Trump’s new cabinet, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Maha confusion, Chief Justice Chandrachud’s retirement, and a thought experiment on what would happen if India’s elections were conducted in the US style.

DOGE

Now that the dust has settled on the US election results, as the Democrats figure out why they spent too much money on Beyoncé and Co, Trump has announced key members of his new team. While there are some grumblings amid the MAGA folks about Trump’s selection of neocons instead of “America First” figures, one of the most astonishing announcements came today when Trump revealed that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would co-lead a new ministry that Trump likened to the Manhattan Project: DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency.

The acronym is a cheeky nod to Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency, which started as a joke by two Australian software developers featuring the Shiba Inu dog from the viral Doge meme. Not only does the department sound reminiscent of the fictional ministry in Yes Minister called the Ministry for Administrative Affairs (the site of many tussles between Sir Humphrey Appleby and the Honourable Jim Hacker), but it’s also part of Musk and Ramaswamy’s mission to drain the swamp by reducing bureaucratic oversight. Both have argued that unelected bureaucrats are making decisions instead of elected government members.

DOGE’s mission is ambitious. With a deadline set for 4 July 2026—the US’s 250th anniversary—the department aims to deliver a government that operates with private-sector precision. Musk claims potential savings of over $2 trillion, and together with Ramaswamy, they aim to introduce sweeping reforms that make government spending more transparent and efficient. If successful, DOGE’s work could transform public perception of Washington, marking a milestone in Trump’s vision for a government truly “of the people, by the people, for the people.” However, the challenges are immense, with entrenched bureaucratic systems resistant to change. For Musk and Ramaswamy, the stakes are high, and DOGE stands as a bold experiment that will either set a new standard for public service or reveal the limits of applying business logic to the sprawling federal government.

And those aren’t the only announcements Trump has made. We have a pretty good inkling of what the new Trump team will look like.

The Trump Cabinet

(Read to the tune of Chicago Bulls announcer Ray Clay announcing the 1997 Chicago Bulls team with Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project playing in the background)

Aaaaand now... the starting lineup... for your... new Team Trump.

From Jacksonville, Florida, the White House Chief of Staff, the only person who can keep Donald Trump in check… Susie Wiles.

From West Carthage, New York, the man who tussles with AOC and new ‘Border Czar’… Tom Homan.

From Albany, New York, the new US Ambassador to the United Nations… Elise Stefanik.

From East Meadow, New York, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency… Lee Zeldin.

From Boynton Beach, Florida, the man who loves India and hates China and is now the new National Security Adviser… Mike Waltz.

From Hope, Arkansas, the man picked to bring peace to the Middle East, the new US Ambassador to Israel… Mike Huckabee.

From Forest Lake, Minnesota, the new Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth.

From Watertown, South Dakota, the woman who shot her own dog, the new Secretary of Homeland Security… Kristi Noem.

From Mount Prospect, Illinois, the man charged with keeping the world in check, the new CIA director… John Ratcliffe.

And finally, from Pretoria, South Africa, and Cincinnati, Ohio, the new co-leads of the Department of Government Efficiency … Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Also in the mix, and most likely to become Secretary of State, is Marco Rubio, with Kash Patel who could also have an important role. All in all, the new Trump team is full of individuals who are very pro-Israel, pro-India, and hawkish on China, which will mean we continue to live in unpredictable times as the world deals with Trumpmania again.

Maha Confusion

A generation ago, BJP was home to some of the most gifted orators in Indian politics. In one mix, you had Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, and Pramod Mahajan. Mahajan, in particular, has a viral speech that lives long in the memory, where he explains coalition politics and democracy to some Chinese politicians who were accustomed to one party, one candidate, and one election.

He memorably said in parliament in 1997, explaining the complexity of coalition parties: “I told them that I would give them only the introductory details in this regard. I am Pramod Mahajan. I am a Member of Lok Sabha. I belong to the single-largest party and I am in the opposition.” The Chinese were left looking aghast. “‘Is your party the single-largest party?’ I said, ‘Yes, we are the single-largest party in the House and we are in the opposition.’ Then I pointed out to Shri Sriballav Panigrahi and told them he belongs to the second-largest party. Though he is outside the government, yet he is supporting the government. Then I pointed towards Shri M.A. Baby and told them that he is the third-largest party. He is inside the Front but outside the government. And then I said, he is Mr Ramakant Khalap. He is the only Member of his party and he is in the government.”

Explaining coalition politics to a Chinese politician is probably easier than explaining quantum mechanics to a Catholic classic physicist. The upcoming election in Maharashtra, which includes the crown jewel of Mumbai—a city that runs on schezwan sauce—has two alliances facing off, and it would confuse Heisenberg as well.

The first alliance is the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), consisting of Congress, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction). The second alliance is called the Maha Yuti Alliance and includes the BJP, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). Not only do the two alliances have similarly sounding names, but even the parties within each alliance have similar names. Currently, the original symbols of both parties—the bow and arrow and the clock—are with the Shinde and Pawar factions. Meanwhile, the Uddhav faction has a mashal (flaming torch), and the Sharad Pawar faction has a blowhorn.

And if that’s not confusing enough, all parties have also put up rebel candidates with similarly sounding names to cut the votes of their opponents.

Justice Rockstar

DY Chandrachud (DYC) stepped down on 10 November, ending the tenure of perhaps the first Chief Justice of India to have rockstar status. One of the most well-known judicial figures in the country, DYC combined a sublime legal mind grounded in first principles with a Caesar-like oratorical flourish that made him one of the most sought-after speakers in India.

During his time as an SC justice, he oversaw some historic cases, including declaring privacy a fundamental right under Article 21, striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, decriminalising adultery, and finally settling the contentious Ayodhya land dispute case. As CJI, the bench also rejected pleas to legalise same-sex marriage (stating that the ball was with the legislator) and upheld the abrogation of Article 370. The Electoral Bonds scheme saw the bench halt bond sales, require transparency in transactions, and allow state governments to create sub-classifications within SC and ST categories.

A respected columnist, in a fine piece with Shakespeare quotes and polysyllabic words, recently wrote that Chandrachud was “arguably a more damaging Chief Justice than Justice AN Ray.” For the uninitiated, Justice AN Ray was Indira Gandhi’s favourite judge.

However, one must disagree with the hallowed columnist, as DYC, like a good justice, caused much heartburn across the political aisle. After every major judgement, he was either viewed as the greatest thing since sliced bread or the worst thing since the finale of Game of Thrones, depending on one’s political alignment. That he consistently angered both sides shows that he was a man who judged every case on its merit and through the prism of first principles.

What if India followed the US System

Currently, the US follows an Electoral College system where each candidate gets all the electoral votes of a state, while India follows the Westminster system, also known as the first-past-the-post system, where a candidate only has to get the most votes in each constituency. But, what if India followed a US Electoral College system? In this model, whichever party got the most votes in a state would end up with all the votes.

For India’s 2014, 2019, and 2024 general elections, this hypothetical model would amplify the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) victories. In 2014, the NDA would claim approximately 337 electoral votes, even more than the seats it won under the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. In 2019, this advantage would grow to 355 electoral votes. Despite a smaller seat count in 2024, the NDA would still maintain a majority with around 342 electoral votes due to dominance in populous states. This thought experiment brings to life an interesting “what if” scenario.

(written by Nirmalya Dutta ; cartoon by Prasad Sanyal )