Senate confirms retired Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary, breaking with decades of precedent

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

By Dan Lamothe January 20 at 5:07 PM

The Senate confirmed James N. Mattis as President Trump’s defense secretary Friday, breaking with decades of precedent by making a recently retired general the Pentagon’s top civilian leader.

Mattis, 66, will lead the Defense Department’s 1.9 million active-duty service members and reservists and oversee a budget of more than $580 billion as Trump prepares to expand the military. He becomes the first senior military officer to serve as defense secretary since President Truman nominated Army Gen. George C. Marshall for the job in 1950, as the U.S. military struggled in the Korean War.

Many lawmakers and long-time foreign policy observers hope Mattis can be a moderating voice of experience in an administration that has notably few senior officials with national security experience in Washington.

Mattis is one of the most influential military officers of his generation, retiring from the Marine Corps in 2013 as the four-star chief of U.S. Central Command after a career in which he led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In his Jan. 12 confirmation hearing, he said he never anticipated he would be nominated for the job and was “enjoying a full life west of the Rockies” when Trump asked to meet with him.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/20/senate-confirms-retired-gen-james-mattis-as-defense-secretary-breaking-with-decades-of-precedent/?utm_term=.d1c8dcc40c99&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation

[ck4829]

1. And the Senate's credibility as a body representative of the people continues to go down the drain.

What a joke.

[nycbos]

2. I am ok with this Mattis is the only reasonable pick from Trump.

We just have to pray that his voice is louder than Flynn's

[Freethinker65]

3. Honestly, Mattis is at least qualified...albeit with a waver

When we have unqualified nominees like DeVos, Carson, and Perry and horrendous nominees like Pruitt, Tillerson, and Sessions....Mattis seems like an "ok" choice

[Lithos]

8. No,I think he's not

However, he's much closer than those you named..

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. I disagree with your assessment of DeVos.

She is more "horrendous" than merely "unqualified".

She will be a nightmare for public education.

[Freethinker65]

14. Perhaps...but unqualified means there is no way to even consider her

Yes she is horrendous

[hack89]

4. Good choice. Nt

[yallerdawg]

5. Republican motto - we better get used to it.

[alarimer]

6. Why didn't the Democrats vote against him?

I know Gillibrand did, because she said she would. But now is the time to signal to Trump that the Democrats are not rolling over for him. Why play nice at all?

This guy is a war criminal. Well, I guess they are all criminals of one sort or another, but still.

[IronLionZion]

7. Mattis is the only check against Trump doing stupid military stuff

He got the nuclear launch codes this morning. Who else is going to stop him?

[MountainFool]

9. Mad Dog Mattis

From what I've read, if Trump decides that he's pissed at someone, and wants to launch a nuke at them, the *only* one that can stop it is the Secretary of Defense.

I'd rather have someone who's nicname wasn't "Mad Dog" in that role.

Bummer. Let's hope Trump is removed from office before he launches.

[IronLionZion]

10. Mattis is actually the most sensible choice Trump's made yet

well-read, thoughful, strategic, level-headed, etc. And could easily be on the short list for a Democratic president's SecDef.

Which means Trump stupidly chose him for his nickname.

[Hortensis]

11. Yes. And being competent, Mattis probably has had

something to do with "sounds demented" Lite General Michael Flynn's loss of some power already. He would have accepted the position knowing Flynn was a problem he'd have to deal with to do the job.

[JI7]

15. the mad dog nick name can be misleading

It makes people think of a certain type but mattis is actually the opposite of it.

And trump probably picked him because of the nickname and what he thought he was like based on that.

[Shrek]

12. The vote was 98-1

Sanders, Kaine, and every other Democrat besides Gillibrand voted yea.

Apparently he's not horrible.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00029#top