Trump team pulls Mattis from hearing focused on his need for a waiver to be Pentagon chief
29 replies, posted
[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/11/trump-team-pulls-mattis-from-hearing-focused-on-his-need-for-a-waiver-to-be-pentagon-chief/[/url]
[quote]The House Armed Services Committee has canceled a hearing Thursday in which retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis was to address the unconventional nature of his nomination for defense secretary because President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team decided against him appearing, two congressional staff members said.
Mattis was to testify in the afternoon on his need for Congress to pass legislation that would exempt him from a law that prevents recently retired military officers from serving in senior civilian jobs in the Pentagon. The legislation states that retired military personnel must be out of uniform for seven years. The original law, adopted in 1947, had a 10-year moratorium and was created to ensure that civilians control the military.[/quote]
[QUOTE]The legislation states that retired military personnel must be out of uniform for seven years.[/QUOTE]
Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?
The Trump Administration and Mattis already seem to be on thin ice and still we're over a week away from inauguration. I've heard some mixed things about Mattis, but he seemed like one of the more qualified and reasonable choices for the cabinet so I'm not surprised he's having the most trouble being integrated.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
they don't want to widly publicize that the DNC could sink at least one pick, but actually mattis was seen as a well needed moderate in trumps cabinet
[QUOTE=Sableye;51656281]they don't want to widly publicize that the DNC could sink at least one pick, but actually mattis was seen as a well needed moderate in trumps cabinet[/QUOTE]
But it's the law. Surely his choices need to be legal? how is the DNC related to this?
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
It has. He could technically get a waiver for it if it is approved by Congress, but it appears the hearing for that has been cancelled. It's rumored that Mattis has been clashing with Trump's cabinet, so they might end up dropping him.
It's a shame because he's probably one of the only rational people they've picked
A correspondent on NPR claimed this was just because his confirmation hearing with the Senate was scheduled the same day. Trump team wanted to meet with him as well and just needed to clear the schedule. No source on that yet but I can link/quote the story when it comes up on NPR1.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
Every news source I've heard report about Mattis has also reported this, it's the main point against him since he's otherwise a fine candidate for the job.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
Maybe the plan was to introduce doomed to fail candidate and then "opss well now we gotta scramble for a new candidate, uhh, looks like, uhm, [I]Haliburton CEO David J. Lesar[/I] is the best we can do on short notice, sorry guys."? I don't know. You'd think that someone would have mentioned this news by now though in a much larger context than it has been, it's pretty convenient, though to say any more in anything but pure speculation is tinfoil hat at best.
Are they dropping Mattis? He recently butted heads with the administration over their appt of Vincent Viola without his consultation. He could have gotten a waiver for this, so if they end up dropping him then I reckon it's because they fear Mattis won't toe the line.
They aren't pulling Mattis. What they are doing is pulling him out until they can get a congress in session that can say yes to the waiver.
Which may be tonight or tomorrow.
Mattis is by far Trump's most popular appointment yet. I sincerely doubt he'll going to be dropped under any circumstances.
[QUOTE=Chonch;51656364]Mattis is by far Trump's most popular appointment yet. I sincerely doubt he'll going to be dropped under any circumstances.[/QUOTE]
Idk, you'd think if they cared about popularity they wouldn't have picked a good number of the picks they did so.. Anything's possible I suppose.
[QUOTE=Stroheim;51656363]They aren't pulling Mattis. What they are doing is pulling him out until they can get a congress in session that can say yes to the waiver[/QUOTE]
From what I understand, Mattis is generally approved of on both sides of the aisle. Given that, and the Congressional supermajority held by the GOP, it seems unlikely he'd be stonewalled. I mean, all we can do here is speculate, but the decision to pull him from the hearing is an odd one.
[QUOTE=F.X Clampazzo;51656434]Idk, you'd think if they cared about popularity they wouldn't have picked a good number of the picks they did so.. Anything's possible I suppose.[/QUOTE]
Trump is picking people he wants for the job regardless. This pick just happens to elicit a strong positive reaction. Obviously that is a political asset to hold on to.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51656437]From what I understand, Mattis is generally approved of on both sides of the aisle. Given that, and the Congressional supermajority held by the GOP, it seems unlikely he'd be stonewalled. I mean, all we can do here is speculate, but the decision to pull him from the hearing is an odd one.[/QUOTE]
The democrats are going to try and stall and hold this session until the session tonight is over (personal thoughts incoming) because they want to have at least 1 guy/gal off the Trump administration as maybe payback for the Republicans doing the same thing. The Trump team probably knows this, and pulled him until the congress is a bit more in favor.
But who knows, maybe I'm just a paranoid idiot.
[QUOTE=Chonch;51656364]Mattis is by far Trump's most popular appointment yet. I sincerely doubt he'll going to be dropped under any circumstances.[/QUOTE]
He's also butted heads with Trump a couple times already, so he's probably already on thin ice. We know how Trump feels about people who disagree with him.
[QUOTE=Stroheim;51656456]The democrats are going to try and stall and hold this session until the session tonight is over (personal thoughts incoming) because they want to have at least 1 guy/gal off the Trump administration as maybe payback for the Republicans doing the same thing. The Trump team probably knows this, and pulled him until the congress is a bit more in favor.
But who knows, maybe I'm just a paranoid idiot.[/QUOTE]
Mattis is an odd choice to protest, however, considering he is literally the only qualified and respected appointee the Trump administration has made up to this point.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51656783]Mattis is an odd choice to protest, however, considering he is literally the only qualified and respected appointee the Trump administration has made up to this point.[/QUOTE]
Kelly and Carson are pretty good if you look at their departments.
Kelly being put into HLS and Carson HUD.
[QUOTE=RG4ORDR;51656927]Kelly and Carson are pretty good if you look at their departments.
Kelly being put into HLS and Carson HUD.[/QUOTE]
why carson for HUD?
[QUOTE=Judas;51656934]why carson for HUD?[/QUOTE]
Someone who lived in government provided housing,taking assistance,etc when younger seems like the best person to be put in charge of a department rather than someone that lived in the suburbs.
Given the fact that he will probably be easily approved by both sides and that this hearing was scheduled on the same day as his confirmation hearing, I see no issue in this.
The man deserves the post and will do an amazing job at it, as well as offering great advice to Trump who will need it for sure when it comes to these matters.
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;51657150]Given the fact that he will probably be easily approved by both sides and that this hearing was scheduled on the same day as his confirmation hearing, I see no issue in this.
The man deserves the post and will do an amazing job at it, as well as offering great advice to Trump who will need it for sure when it comes to these matters.[/QUOTE]
Offer Trump advice? Offer Donald "I don't need intelligence briefings because I'm smart" Trump advice? What world are you from?
[QUOTE=RG4ORDR;51656983]Someone who lived in government provided housing,taking assistance,etc when younger seems like the best person to be put in charge of a department rather than someone that lived in the suburbs.[/QUOTE]
I don't know, that still doesn't give him any of the necessary relevant managerial experience, political experience, or any of the theory and analytical skills to analyze the real world data behind his new position. Living in an environment doesn't give you those skills, nor does it empower you to be able to make difficult decisions when you need to.
To give an example, just because a doctor is smart, doesn't mean he will make a good hospital administrator. Neither is a construction worker a good pick for a real estate developer, at least not without some business education.
Carson's educated, sure, but he's also demonstrated during his campaign that he has next to no knowledge of the world outside of medical school which makes his qualifications shoddy at best. I don't think he'll be able to do too much damage, but just as with most of Trump's picks, there were so many better options it's starting to not be funny any more.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
It always has, don't know what you've been reading.
[QUOTE=RG4ORDR;51656983]Someone who lived in government provided housing,taking assistance,etc when younger seems like the best person to be put in charge of a department rather than someone that lived in the suburbs.[/QUOTE]
Ben "charities are better at providing for the needy than the government" Carson will be great for the poor and downtrodden who need homes. Ben "get rid of dependency, that's true compassion" Carson will surely help urban development. Ben "government entitlements compete with private-sector charity" Carson lived in a poor home, so he's 100% qualified to handle technical aspects of housing and urban development despite a career in a 100% different field.
And Rick Perry in the Department of Energy? Seems like a good idea to replace a nuclear physicist with a state governor when it comes to handling the safety and security of our country's nuclear power operations.
[editline]12th January 2017[/editline]
This mindset is hilarious. I was born in Taiwan - clearly I should be the Ambassador to Taiwan because of my "experience," despite barely speaking any Mandarin or Hokkien and knowing effectively nothing about the culture, responsibilities, or expectations of the job at hand.
You're saying Ben Carson should handle Housing and Urban Development because he grew up poor. That's the only connection he has to the job - it doesn't make him a good pick. You don't pick the new CEO of Apple by saying "this kid worked on an apple farm as a kid."
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656269]Wait, how come this hasn't come up before in any discussion of Mattis?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Sableye;51656281]they don't want to widly publicize that the DNC could sink at least one pick, but actually mattis was seen as a well needed moderate in trumps cabinet[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51656286]But it's the law. Surely his choices need to be legal? how is the DNC related to this?[/QUOTE]
It's not widely publicized because it's not an absolute law. Congress can - and has in the past - waived certain individuals of this law to get into their appointed positions. However, it is very rare for it to happen IIRC.
Senate Just passed waiver.
[URL="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/senate-approves-bill-granting-waiver-to-mattis-to-be-defense-secretary-2017-01-12"]http://www.marketwatch.com/story/senate-approves-bill-granting-waiver-to-mattis-to-be-defense-secretary-2017-01-12[/URL]
[QUOTE=Chonch;51656452]Trump is picking people he wants for the job regardless. This pick just happens to elicit a strong positive reaction. Obviously that is a political asset to hold on to.[/QUOTE]
Explain Rex Tillerson
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51662259]Explain Rex Tillerson[/QUOTE]
Seems to line up with the foreign policy vision Trump has laid out. I'm not sure what you're getting at.
[QUOTE=Chonch;51662285]A pick that seems to line up with the foreign policy vision Trump has laid out. I'm not sure what you're getting at.[/QUOTE]
It's someone he wants for the job. Okay.
But how does that make it a good pick? Say whatever you will about it, but appointing a man like that to power just because you want him to be in power doesn't bode well for the rest of us IMO. Just being an oil magnate and in charge of the russian operations doesn't really qualify him, does it?
I mean I keep being told that to worry at this stage would be silly, he's not even the president, what possible reason do we have to fear, that these picks aren't representative of his policy and campaign promises so we don't have to worry yet.
He has one good pick. This one. Every other pick is some degree of abject horror.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.