Stand with Sen. Gillibrand: Tell Democrats to filibuster waiver for Gen. Mattis
Senate Democrats
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand laid down a clear marker: She’ll filibuster the waiver that retired Gen. James Mattis would need in order to serve as secretary of defense.
Trump plans to nominate Mattis for the job, but a 70-year-old federal law bars retired members of the military from holding senior defense posts if they’ve served on active duty within the last seven years. Mattis retired only three years ago and thus requires a special waiver to pass both houses of Congress.
The law stands in support of a critical principle: that our armed forces must always be subordinate to the will of civilians. It’s a bedrock foundation of any democracy, and it’s more important than ever to uphold it now that we have a president-elect dead set on eroding constitutional norms. The last thing we need is to send a signal that we’re unshackling the military from centuries of civilian control.
Fortunately, there’s something Democrats can do about it. While the filibuster for cabinet appointees was eliminated a few years back, meaning a nominee can be confirmed with just 50 votes in the Senate, the waiver Mattis requires is subject to a filibuster. Mattis would therefore need 60 votes in order to become secretary of defense—so he’d need the support of at least eight Democrats to overcome a filibuster.
This is about more than just civilian control of the military, as vital as that is. This is about resisting Trump at every opportunity. Congressional Democrats aren’t accustomed to playing this kind of oppositional role, but they’d better get used to it quickly, because the only way to save this country is to fight back against everything Trump stands for as hard as we can.
Tell Senate Democrats: Support Sen. Gillibrand's filibuster the waiver Gen. Mattis needs to become secretary of defense.
Trump plans to nominate Mattis for the job, but a 70-year-old federal law bars retired members of the military from holding senior defense posts if they’ve served on active duty within the last seven years. Mattis retired only three years ago and thus requires a special waiver to pass both houses of Congress.
The law stands in support of a critical principle: that our armed forces must always be subordinate to the will of civilians. It’s a bedrock foundation of any democracy, and it’s more important than ever to uphold it now that we have a president-elect dead set on eroding constitutional norms. The last thing we need is to send a signal that we’re unshackling the military from centuries of civilian control.
Fortunately, there’s something Democrats can do about it. While the filibuster for cabinet appointees was eliminated a few years back, meaning a nominee can be confirmed with just 50 votes in the Senate, the waiver Mattis requires is subject to a filibuster. Mattis would therefore need 60 votes in order to become secretary of defense—so he’d need the support of at least eight Democrats to overcome a filibuster.
This is about more than just civilian control of the military, as vital as that is. This is about resisting Trump at every opportunity. Congressional Democrats aren’t accustomed to playing this kind of oppositional role, but they’d better get used to it quickly, because the only way to save this country is to fight back against everything Trump stands for as hard as we can.
Tell Senate Democrats: Support Sen. Gillibrand's filibuster the waiver Gen. Mattis needs to become secretary of defense.
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Senate Democrats
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Civilian control of the military is a bedrock foundation of any democracy, and it’s more important than ever to uphold it now that we have a president-elect dead set on eroding constitutional norms. Filibuster the waiver that Gen. James Mattis would need in order to serve as secretary of defense.