Arizona Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego announced Monday he would vote against a special waiver to allow Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to serve as secretary of defense.
Gallego joins New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in opposing Mattis on the grounds of preserving civilian control of the U.S. military. Title 10 of the U.S. Code specifies that a military officer must be out of uniform for a period of seven years before serving as secretary of defense. This requirement was waived for Gen. George C. Marshall in 1953, at the request of President Harry S. Truman.
Gallego is a veteran officer with the Marine Corps who deployed to Iraq in 2005. “As a veteran, I believe strongly in the principle of civilian leadership of the military. Current law requires that a military officer be out of active duty for at least seven years before taking the job of defense secretary. I do not believe this long-standing check should be cast aside, and I will oppose a waiver of this rule, even for someone as exceptionally qualified as General Mattis,” he said in his Monday statement.
Gillianbrand echoed Gallego’s position in her Dec. 1 statement shortly after President-elect Trump’s defense secretary announcement saying, “civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy, and I will not vote for an exception to this rule.”
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