Top defense Dem urges House to vote against Mattis waiver

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee is urging the full chamber to vote against a waiver that would allow retired Gen. James Mattis to serve as Defense secretary.

“That is a major decision affecting the principle of civil-military relations, but the House is rushing to vote on it without holding a hearing, without conducting proper oversight and after being refused an opportunity to hear from Gen. Mattis himself,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said in a “dear colleague” letter sent to members of the House on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the committee voted to pass the waiver 34-28, splitting on party lines.

Mattis is seeking a waiver for a law requiring Defense secretaries to be out of uniform for at least seven years. He retired in 2013.

Prior to Thursday, there was little opposition to the waiver, even among Democrats. But the Trump transition team declined to make Mattis available for a hearing before the House committee after Mattis had agreed to testify, drawing the ire of Democrats.

A Trump team statement Wednesday indicated Mattis was focused Thursday on his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee and pledged that Mattis would work with both the House and Senate if confirmed.

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Mac Thornbery (R-Texas), was also upset at the Trump team’s decision, but voted for the waiver along with the rest of the Republicans on the committee, saying it was important to get Mattis confirmed shortly after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

During the committee vote, Democrats expressed similar concerns as Smith outlines in his letter.

Those include not standing up for the House’s right to hear from Mattis on the issue of civilian control from the military.

The House is rushing, Smith wrote, “in order to meet an artificial deadline so that Gen. Mattis can be seated the same day as the presidential inauguration, and to soothe the sensitivities of the Senate regarding confirmation. It is improper and unnecessary for the House of Representatives to give up so easily over such concerns. By agreeing to do so, we are ensuring that the House will be actively derelict in its duties and prerogatives.”

Other concerns include the waiver not specifically naming Mattis, not exempting Mattis from the Uniform Code of Military Justice and not expressing the sense of Congress that no other future exceptions to the law should be made.

“This is an exceptional situation,” Smith wrote. “The process by which we consider this exception bill will set a precedent for the future, and the precedent should not be that the House acted as a rubber stamp to the president and the Senate. For these reasons, we urge you to vote against this language.” 

The full Senate passed the waiver 81-17 on Thursday, too. The full House is expected to take it up Friday.