{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-nomination-of-general-james-mattis-to-be-secretary-of-defense", "Reed Statement on Nomination of General James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense", "2016-12-06", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/06/2016\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 With President-elect Donald Trump scheduled to hold an event in Fayetteville, North Carolina tonight to officially announce the nomination of General James N. Mattis (ret.) to be the next U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement:\r\n\u201cThis nomination raises a significant legal issue.\u00a0 In order for General Mattis to serve, existing law must be amended since it prevents recently retired officers from serving as Secretary of Defense.\r\n\u201cGeneral Mattis is an extraordinarily accomplished Marine officer of great intellect.\u00a0 His selfless service to the nation has made a lasting contribution.\r\n\u201cCongress, both the House and Senate, must have a serious debate before taking any action that would significantly alter the established principle of civilian control of our Armed Forces.\r\n\u201cTrying to jam an historic change like this through on a yearend spending bill, or changing the rules before a serious debate can take place, is not the way to conduct the people\u2019s business.\r\n\u201cI look forward to working with Chairman McCain and others to ensure there are appropriate hearings and thoughtful debate.\r\n\u201cSurely, at the very least, it is worth having bipartisan hearings and debate before taking any action that could unintentionally disrupt the long established principle of civilian control of the military.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 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://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-nomination-of-general-james-mattis-to-be-secretary-of-defense"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0524450335651636, "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"}