{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://rubengallego.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ruben-gallego-statement-nomination-general-james-mattis-defense", "Rep. Ruben Gallego Statement on Nomination of General James Mattis as Defense Secretary", "2016-12-05", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Ruben Gallego", "G000574", "rubengallego.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 Rep. Ruben Gallego issued the following statement on President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that he will nominate General James Mattis as Defense Secretary:\n\u201cAs a fellow Marine, I greatly admire General James Mattis\u2019 dedication and leadership. We all should be incredibly grateful for his many years of service to our nation.\n\u201cAs a veteran, I believe strongly in the principle of civilian leadership of the military. Current law requires that a military officer be out of active duty for at least seven years before taking the job of defense secretary. I do not believe this long-standing check should be cast aside, and I will oppose a waiver of this rule, even for someone as exceptionally qualified as General Mattis.\u201d\nRep. Ruben Gallego is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and served in Iraq with the combat unit Lima 3/25. He currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://rubengallego.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ruben-gallego-statement-nomination-general-james-mattis-defense"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7559419609606266, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}