Jim Mattis, the retired Marine general who served as President Trump’s first defense secretary, is joining the board of contractor General Dynamics just as the 2020 campaign heightens scrutiny into corporate recruitment of senior government officials.
The General Dynamics position, which Mattis stepped into on Aug. 7, carries an annual retainer of $85,000, plus meeting attendance fees of at least $2,000, and an annual stock award of about $150,000, according to a regulatory filing. In 2018, independent directors — those not serving in a management role at the Navy shipbuilder — who held their roles a full year earned at least $297,000.
“Jim is a thoughtful, deliberate and principled leader with a proven track record of selfless service to our nation,” CEO Phebe Novakovic said in a statement. “We are honored to have him on our board.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat among the top three candidates seeking to unseat Trump, has sponsored a bill requiring a four-year waiting period between government roles and corporate jobs and, in June, asked detention center operator Caliburn International to justify its hiring of John Kelly, the former chief of staff tasked with carrying out Trump’s illegal immigration policies.
Warren’s office didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration late last year in protest of Trump’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, previously served on General Dynamics’ board from 2013 to through 2016, earning $265,944 in his last year. He was qualified to be an independent director under company policy and New York Stock Exchange rules despite his brother’s employment with the company, since his sibling wasn’t an officer of the company and didn’t meet a disqualifying salary threshold.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based contractor said at the time that Mattis’ military experience gave him “valuable insight into international and government affairs and the global defense industry.” His Marine Corps service included stints as Commander, U.S. Central Command, and Commander U.S. Joint Forces as well as NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation.
Mattis told Trump in his letter resigning from the administration that he could no longer carry out the president’s policies, and cited the importance of what he called America’s “unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships.”
“Because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours … I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis said. The department was subsequently led by three acting secretaries before the Senate confirmed Army Secretary Mark Esper’s appointment to the higher-ranking role in late July.
Prior to becoming Army secretary, Esper served as vice president for government relations at defense contractor Raytheon, a history with which Warren took issue during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Noting that Esper remains eligible for $1 million in deferred compensation from the company in 2022, she pressed him to commit to avoiding high-ranking corporate roles for four years after he relinquishes the top Pentagon role. Esper, who declined, cited his military service and promised to follow existing laws and ethics rules.
“The American people deserve to know you’re making decisions based in this country’s best security interests, not in your own financial interests,” Warren said. “You won’t rule out taking a trip right back through the revolving door on your way out of government service or even just delaying that trip for four years.”
