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Sam Nunn endorses waiver for Jim Mattis as Pentagon chief, citing family precedent

Defense secretary nominee retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis arrives at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Credit: Jim Galloway

Credit: Jim Galloway

Defense secretary nominee retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis arrives at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images
By Jim Galloway
Jan 12, 2017

This morning, Sam Nunn made another appearance before a U.S. Senate committee hearing for a member of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet, this time for former Marine general Jim Mattis as secretary of defense.

In doing so, the former Georgia senator endorsed a congressional waiver of a federal law that requires Pentagon chiefs to have a seven-year gap between that job and their military service.

It’s only been done once before. Nunn cited his family connection to the precedent:

In other words, Nunn was saying that “Mad Dog” Mattis is no Douglas MacArthur.

About the Author

Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.

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