On Tuesday, Kentucky representative Hal Rogers introduced a short-term spending bill to fund the government through April 28. And, despite warnings from minority leader Pelosi, House Republicans inserted a clause that expedites the confirmation process of former general James Mattis, whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to be his Secretary of Defense.
Mattis must receive a congressional waiver before he can head to the Pentagon. A 1947 statute, designed to maintain civilian control of the military, prohibits defense secretaries from serving within seven years of their nomination (a term that was originally ten years before the statute was modified in 2008). Mattis retired from the military in 2013.
