Ret. Marine Corps Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis has emerged as a favorite for the position of Defense Secretary in the new Trump administration. However, a legal statute could prevent him from being eligible for the job unless a congressional waiver is procured.
Section 903(a) of the National Defense Authorization act requires a seven-year wait period between active duty and serving as Secretary of Defense — a civilian role — for former service members. A special waiver from Congress would be necessary for Mattis to take the position, since he retired from the military in 2013.
As former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers explained on “New Day,” this statute was put in place in 2008 because “you don’t want a military attitude in the civilian position.”
“When you get to that Defense Secretary role, it has to be a broader, strategic impact brought to any decision you make in any strategic event you make around the world — including, by the way, acquisitions of weapons,” Rogers said. “I think they just want a little distance there to make sure you don’t just take a general and make them secretary. And that’s why, originally, the law was passed to give that seven-year window.”
Mattis wouldn’t be the first defense secretary to require a congressional waiver. President Harry Truman appointed Gen. George Marshall to the position in 1947, just over a year after he retired from the Army. Congress granted the waiver (at the time, the interval between active duty and defense secretary service was 10 years).
Rogers also cautioned that getting that waiver from Congress could become a costly use of political capital.
“Just remember, you have to invest political capital to get your nominee a waiver, and then you have to get your nominee through the Senate. So that’s two different processes. And that should be a factor when you are considering if you want this person to be your next Secretary of Defense.” Still, Rogers praised Mattis as a “strategic thinker” with a “stellar reputation.”
Rogers also praised Mattis as a “truth-to-power kind of guy” who also understood “when force is necessary and when force is not advisable.”
“Again, this is a very tough warrior who is a strategic thinker that thinks about the second and third order effects of every decision when you use your military,” Rogers said. “That’s why I think he’s attractive to the Trump folks and why he would, if he could go through this process, would be a really good Secretary of Defense.”
Maj. General James “Spider” Marks, who was on “New Day” with Rogers, said the retired general’s confirmation was “worth the political capital.”
“Nobody is more well prepared than Gen. Jim Mattis,” Marks said. “He truly is a student of the profession and has demonstrated that throughout the course of his career without a blemish … He is absolutely no nonsense, he’s a very nuanced thinker, but he is very clear in how he approaches problem solving.”
“Frankly,” Marks added, “the military needs to shore up its relationship with the administration.” He said the Trump administration needs more leadership, and Mattis would bring that to the table “immediately.”