James Mattis is the one Donald Trump Cabinet pick whom Democrats could unilaterally block. Instead, they made clear Thursday their resounding support for the retired Marine Corps general, touting him as their best hope for reining in a president-elect who has unorthodox views on matters of war and peace.
Mattis sailed through his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, fielding mostly gentle questions and easily sidestepping the few attempts by senators to trip him up.
Immediately after the session, which lasted just over three hours, the panel voted to exempt Mattis from a law barring military officers from serving as defense secretary until they’ve been out of uniform seven years.
The full House and Senate are expected to approve the measure — which will require 60 votes in the Senate, meaning Mattis will need Democratic support — by week’s end. This all but assures Mattis will be quickly and easily confirmed as Pentagon chief soon after Trump’s inauguration.
Here are some takeaways from a smooth confirmation hearing in which Mattis showcased why many lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans alike — consider him one of Trump’s strongest Cabinet selections:
Senators are counting on him as a check on Trump
Democrats — and even some Republicans — made clear to Mattis they expect him to be a check on Trump and his White House national security team.
“Does your belief in the importance of frank advice extend to the relationship between the defense secretary and the president’s other national security advisers?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Trump.
“Absolutely, senator. I would not have taken this nomination if I didn’t have that belief,” Mattis responded.
“And what about the president himself?” Warren continued in her line of questioning. “Under what circumstances will you advocate for your views forcefully and frankly?”
“On every circumstance, senator,” Mattis said.
Democrats also tried to pin down Mattis on issues where they’re concerned the Trump administration will roll back Obama-era policies.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) brought up Mattis’ past statements that the Iranian nuclear deal should not be ripped up, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) pressed Mattis on keeping the Obama administration’s move to open up all combat positions to women.
Republicans weren’t as explicit in calling on Mattis to push back against Trump, but it was implicit in many exchanges.
Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) spent a chunk of his opening statement laying out why Trump’s overtures to Russia were mistaken, and then pushed Mattis to state his support for a permanent U.S. military presence in the Baltics.
Mattis breaks with Trump …
Mattis offered reassurance to defense hawks in both parties that he was not changing his longstanding views on U.S. alliances, despite Trump’s “America First” approach. He offered a full-throated endorsement of NATO and other global partnerships — and denounced Russia as a belligerent actor that must be confronted.
This puts him at odds with some of the rhetoric of Trump, who on the campaign trail dismissed NATO as “obsolete,” said he would consider reducing U.S. commitments to allies like Japan and South Korea — and has made a habit of tweeting praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If we did not have NATO today we would need to create it,” Mattis said, explaining in a written questionnaire that he believes the alliance “must harness renewed political will to confront and walk back aggressive Russian actions and other threats to the security of its members.”
Mattis also broke with Trump on the Iran nuclear deal, which the president-elect on the campaign trail vowed to rip up.
“I think it is an imperfect arms control agreement — it's not a friendship treaty,” Mattis said. “But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.”
... Except when he doesn’t
While Mattis refused to back down from his longstanding views, even when they conflicted with Trump’s campaign rhetoric, he managed to avoid creating any new daylight between himself and his likely future boss — even when senators tried to box him in.
Specifically, several senators tried to get Mattis to denounce Trump’s practice of making bold policy pronouncements on Twitter.
Sen. Lindsey Graham pointed to a Trump tweet from earlier this month in which he said about North Korea’s ambitions of developing a missile that could reach the United States: “It won't happen!”
“Did Trump tweet a red line when he said, ‘Not gonna happen?’” asked the South Carolina Republican.
“I’m not gonna characterize the president-elect a certain way,” Mattis responded, in one of several examples of him declining to criticize Trump’s tweets.
Mattis also managed to defend Trump’s Twitter criticisms the F-35 program while also signaling his own support for the Lockheed Martin fighter jet program, which has suffered from major cost overruns and delays.
"The president-elect has talked about the cost of it, but he has in no way shown a lack of support for the program; he just wants the best bang for the buck," Mattis said in response to questions from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
He avoided alienating Democrats on social issues
A key issue of concern for some Democrats on the Armed Services panel was Mattis’ views on military personnel issues — and particularly his past remarks on women in combat.
Gillibrand brought up Mattis’ previous statements — in 2014 he opposed women in some front-line jobs because, he said, he doesn’t believe in mixing love and close-quarters combat — and asked whether Mattis planned to roll back the Obama administration’s decision to open all combat jobs to women.
Mattis gave an answer designed to reassure Democrats on the issue but not completely close any doors.
“I have no plan to oppose women in any aspect of our military,” Mattis said Thursday. “I’m coming in with the understanding that I lead the Department of Defense, and if someone brings me a problem I will look at it. But I’m not coming in looking for problems.”
He also sought to reassure Democrats he wasn’t looking to undo Obama-era policies allowing gays to serve openly.
“Frankly,” he told the panel, “I’ve never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with.”
Waiver no obstacle
If there was an effort to drum up Democratic opposition to granting Mattis a waiver to become Defense secretary, it certainly didn’t materialize at Thursday’s hearing.
The committee voted 23 to 3 to advance the Mattis waiver immediately after his testimony concluded, and the measure was headed to the floor for a vote Thursday afternoon — a rapid pace in the upper chamber that’s rarely seen these days.
Gillibrand, who had been the most vocal opponent of Mattis’ waiver over concerns about upending the principle of civilian control of the military, focused on other questions in her testimony, though her exchanges with Mattis were the most pointed of any.
Even Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of the three Democrats to oppose the waiver, said Mattis had a unique place in history to take on the Defense secretary role.
“I am extremely concerned by the precedent that your assuming this office would set,” Blumenthal told Mattis. “But let me say very bluntly, if there were ever a case for a waiver of that principle, it is you and this moment in our history.”
Ellen Mitchell contributed to this report.