President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to be defense secretary will get his turn before the Senate on Thursday, facing the Armed Services Committee in the third day of marathon confirmation hearings for the new administration’s nominees.
“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,” the nominee, Ret. Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, is set to say in his opening remarks to the panel, according to excerpts.
“We must embrace our international alliances and security partnerships. History is clear: nations with strong allies thrive and those without them wither,” he added.
Mattis faces an extra challenge beyond other nominees. Not only will his task be convincing senators to confirm him — installing Mattis will need Congress to pass a waiver of a law requiring anyone who served to be out of the military for at least seven years before serving as defense secretary.
Mattis retired in 2013 after serving as Commander of US Central Command.
Mattis is expected to have the votes to be confirmed, as Republicans have a majority in the Senate.
Further aiding Mattis’ cause will be introductions by former Democratic Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn and former Clinton Defense Secretary William Cohen, according to a congressional aide.
The biggest concern of Mattis’ detractors is the principle of civilian control of the military — which is why the law requires a cooling off period before active military officials can serve as the top defense official.
Mattis intends to address the issue in his opening remarks, according to the excerpts.
“I recognize my potential civilian role differs in essence and in substance from my former role in uniform,” he is set to say. “Civilian control of the military is a fundamental tenet of the American military tradition … If the Senate consents and if the full Congress passes an exception to the seven-year requirement, I will provide strong civilian leadership of military plans and decisions.”
That issue could be front and center on Thursday. House Democrats were up in arms Wednesday after Mattis abruptly canceled a scheduled hearing before the House Armed Services Committee slated for Thursday that was supposed to come before the waiver vote in the House.
“The Republicans have been spending eight years complaining about the executive branch usurping legislative branch power and here’s their first move from the new administration is to ignore us on something,” Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition said Mattis was focused on the confirmation process and testifying before the Senate on Thursday.
Mattis is expected to face a tough questions on Thursday, given both his record and statements by Trump.
Senators have already questioned nominees on the issue of waterboarding and torture, which Trump has spoken in favor of. Mattis is on the record against using waterboarding in the military, a difference Trump noted when he introduced him as his choice for defense secretary.
Mattis is also sure to face questions about relations with Russia, Moscow’s involvement in the conflict in Syria, and the use of military force, especially in the fight against terrorism.
Other likely hot topics include the use of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, which President Barack Obama pledged to close but Republicans want kept open, opening up all combat positions to women and sexual assault in the military.
Mattis also served as supreme allied commander of NATO for transformation — the alliance is an organization Trump has criticized throughout the campaign.
The retired four-star general is a bachelor who spent most of his adult life in the Marines. He served in the first Gulf War and Afghanistan, in addition to his positions atop NATO and US Central Command, which is in charge of the US military in the Middle East.
While his friends don’t call him Mad Dog, he has earned the nickname in part because of some of his frank comments on the violence that combat sometimes requires.
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet,” he would tell his Marines in Iraq, according to the writer Thomas Ricks in his book Fiasco. He also drew criticism for saying in 205, “It’s fun to shoot some people.”
If he were confirmed, Mattis has agreed to give up his business interests, including A $242,000- a-year position on the board of General Dynamics, one of the largest defense contractors. Also, in December, Mattis resigned from the board of Theranos, a blood testing company under government scrutiny for questionable practices.
Former Defense Secretary George C. Marshall was the last recipient of a waiver to run the Defense Department, the only such precedent.