House set to vote on measure allowing Mattis to run Pentagon

WASHINGTON — The House is expected to pass by a comfortable margin legislation that would allow retired Gen. James Mattis to run the Pentagon for Donald Trump.

The bill has strong GOP support and likely will be backed by several Democrats who believe Mattis’ decades of military experience and reputation for sound judgment are a necessary counterbalance to Trump’s impulsive, bombastic style.

The vote is scheduled for Friday.

The legislation grants an exception to the law that bars former service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the top Pentagon job. The restriction is meant to preserve civilian control of the military. Mattis, 66, retired from the Marine Corps in 2013.

The Senate on Thursday easily cleared a similar measure, 81-17, with 30 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. The legislation is separate from a Senate confirmation vote on Mattis. But the strong bipartisan support signals there are no real hurdles to approving Trump’s choice for defense secretary shortly after the president-elect is sworn in next week.

It was unclear if President Barack Obama would sign the legislation once it’s approved by Congress, or if it would fall to Trump after his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, backed the waiver legislation. He called Mattis a “generational exception” and said many Americans are rightly concerned about how Trump may respond when he is tested by Russia, Iran or North Korea, or faces a cyberattack from an unknown source.

During his 44-year military career, Mattis served in numerous senior military positions, including commander of U.S. Central Command in charge of all American forces in the Middle East.

The law mandating a seven-year rule was last waived for George Marshall in 1950, a former five-star Army general and secretary of state.