Lucas, 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
only retired three years ago.
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, andit’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.
Tell Senate Democrats: Support Sen. Gillibrand's filibuster of the
waiver Gen. Mattis needs to become secretary of defense.
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—meaning
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 of the
waiver Gen. Mattis needs to become secretary of defense.
Thanks for all you do,
David Nir
Political Director, Daily Kos