The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a waiver allowing retired marine general James Mattis to serve as US Secretary of Defense.
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For the general to assume the post, he would need Congress to waive a federal law that bars anyone who has been on active duty in the last seven years from becoming defense secretary. The House committee is scheduled to debate and markup the waiver Thursday.
Democrats said they supported Mattis, but the cancellation set a unsafe precedent for Trump to sidestep Congress. Normally, lawmakers are able to question legislation in committee hearings before bills are brought up for votes in the full House.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the committee, told the retired Marine Corps general that “many have supported the waiver legislation in your confirmation because they believe you will be, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, ‘the saucer that cools the coffee'”.
The three people who voted against the waiver were Democrat senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren.
“I will work to make sure our strategy and military calculus are employed to reinforce traditional tools of diplomacy, ensuring our President and our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength”, he said.
He also faulted Republicans for not pushing back when the Trump transition team refused to allow Mattis to testify before the panel on Thursday afternoon after he had completed his confirmation hearing in the Senate.
The House on Friday passed a waiver that will let retired Gen. James Mattis serve as Defense secretary, clearing the path for his confirmation despite a swift rise in Democratic opposition this week.
Mattis repeatedly downplayed contrary statements by President-elect Donald Trump on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the USA relationship with Russian Federation and on the reliability of US intelligence agencies.
“I believe it is extremely important that we carefully consider the consequences of setting aside the law” and “the implications such a decision may have on the future of civilian and military relations”, he added. The vote fell along party lines in the House Armed Services Committee, passing 34-28, after the Trump transition team unexpectedly canceled the nominee’s planned visit.
“We’re on the Mattis waiver”.
Later, Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, Mike Pompeo, portrayed multiple challenges facing the USA, from an aggressive Russian Federation to a “disruptive” Iran to a China that he said is creating “real tensions”. “What do you think it takes to deter him?”
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Mattis is also credited with convincing Trump that torture was not effective.
