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.

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An aerial image shows the Atlanta skyline on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez