Meeting with retired Gen. Jim Mattis on Wednesday did not convince Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that he should serve as defense secretary in the next administration.
Gillibrand praised the former four-star general for his military service and “thoughtful ideas” on national security following a 45-minute meeting in her Capitol Hill office. But said she will not support a waiver of the law requiring a seven-year break between military service and taking a job as the civilian defense secretary. Mattis retired from the Marine Corps in 2013.
“I’m very grateful that he’s willing to continue his service for the president-elect, but I still believe that civilian control of our military is fundamental to the American democracy,” Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand is one of the only voices not supportive of Mattis’ nomination to be President-elect Trump’s defense secretary. Mattis has been holding a series of meetings on Capitol Hill this week with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing, and reaction from senators has been overwhelmingly positive.
When Gillibrand raised her worry about civilian control of the military, she said Mattis told her that “he believes in civilian control of the military too.”
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the committee will holding a hearing looking at civilian control of the military and the impacts of issuing a waiver for Mattis, and Gillibrand said she’s eager to ask more specific questions at that hearing.
Gillibrand said she also discussed women serving in combat positions, sexual assault in the military and cyberterrorism with Mattis.
