Despite no single member of President Trump’s Cabinet earning more confirmation votes from the Senate than James Mattis, the since-departed defense secretary constituted Trump’s most norm-shattering pick, procedurally speaking. Because of a federal law designed to maintain civilian control of the military, Mattis’s confirmation required a bicameral congressional waiver to be confirmed earlier than seven years after he retired from the military.
Joe Biden also plans to skirt this rule, nominating Lloyd Austin, a four-star general who retired from the military in 2016, as his defense secretary.
On its face, such a pick defies the entire ethos of Biden’s final political act. Democrats voted overwhelmingly to outmaneuver a decades-old rule simply because they considered Trump so outlandish and only a man like Mattis capable of curbing his caprice. Furthermore, Trump ran on busting norms, while Biden ran on restoring them. But Biden’s gambit could inadvertently force Democrats to slow down and consider restoring this one on their own.
From 1981 to 2001, the Defense Department has had just seven secretaries. In the subsequent two decades, it had nearly half that. From the Obama administration’s colossal “red line” bluff with Iran to the cavalcade of dunces following Mattis on the carousel of the Trump administration, the Defense Department needs stability and leadership from someone who can give Biden the most workable options without playing politics.
Austin may not be the man for the job, and it’s likely that the Senate will think he’s definitely not. On the one hand, despite his Democratic pedigree, Austin warned the Obama administration that Iran’s activities didn’t change after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He also warned Obama that a full withdrawal from Afghanistan could leave a disastrous power vacuum. On the other hand, Austin’s role in Obama’s disastrous Syria rebel program could prove a nonstarter for Republicans. Furthermore, Austin comes with all the same ties to the commercial defense industry that besieged Michele Flournoy, the former front-runner for the job.
But with no clear partisan bent, the Senate could be stuck considering something highly healing for the country — restoring actual norms.
