Mattis’ departure leaves a hollowed-out Cabinet
What happened
President Trump headed into the New Year with a makeshift Cabinet featuring six acting department heads, after Chief of Staff John Kelly was ousted from the White House and Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned. Mattis announced his departure a day after Trump ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, a decision opposed by the Pentagon chief. (See Controversy.) The outgoing defense secretary forcefully rebuked Trump’s foreign policy in his resignation letter, arguing the importance of supporting U.S. allies and of being “unambiguous” in dealing with authoritarian rivals such as Russia and China. “You have the right,” Mattis wrote Trump, “to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects.” Patrick Shanahan, Mattis’ deputy and a former Boeing executive, is now acting defense secretary.
Mattis and Kelly were viewed by many congressional Republicans and Democrats as the last “adults in the room,” experienced public servants and generals who would check Trump’s impulses. In an exit interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kelly said he’d done his best to keep Trump informed and that his tenure as chief of staff should be judged by what Trump did not do. Sources said Kelly persuaded Trump not to withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea and Afghanistan, and not to pull the U.S. from NATO. Trump has temporarily replaced Kelly with budget director Mick Mulvaney. The posts of attorney general, EPA administrator, interior secretary, and ambassador to the U.N. are also held by acting heads.
What the editorials said
“Cabinet officers come and go,” said The Wall Street Journal, but Mattis’ departure could reverberate in 2020. Trump didn’t just overrule the secretary in ordering a Syrian withdrawal. He told America’s military “that he will act on uninformed impulse,” after a phone conversation with a Turkish dictator who’s eager to attack our Syrian Kurdish allies. Many of Trump’s “deplorables” are in uniform or are veterans. “He has stuck a finger in their eye.”
Mattis worked ably “to prevent or blunt” dangerous presidential decisions, said The New York Times. Now that he’s left, Congress must assert its national security responsibilities. It should pass legislation requiring that the secretaries of state and defense—not just the president—“have a say in the use of nuclear weapons,” and also requiring congressional approval to leave NATO and other treaties.
What the columnists said
America “should be deeply troubled” by Mattis’ letter, said David French in NationalReview.com. In that missive, “America’s most respected warrior” told the nation he doesn’t believe the president sees our enemies clearly or understand “the necessity of American leadership.” Trump has lost not only a defense secretary, said Erin Dunne in WashingtonExaminer.com, but also national security credibility among key Senate Republicans. Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell all voiced distress over Mattis’ departure. Trump will need their help to rally GOP support in the Senate if he’s impeached by the Democrat-controlled House. This resignation “could well prove fatal to the administration.”
There’s a common refrain you hear from Cabinet members who “leap—or are pushed—from the foundering USS Trump,” said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post: “Don’t blame me.” In his Los Angeles Times interview, Kelly absolved himself of guilt for the migrant family separation policy and the travel ban. Mattis did the same in his farewell letter, saying he always opposed Trump’s attacks on NATO and his sucking up to Russia. It’s not enough: “Those who disagreed with the madness had an obligation to resign, or at least to speak out—not to wash their hands of responsibility after the fact.”
Trump will soon have “a cabinet full of yes men,” said Aaron Blake, also in the Post. Look at his replacements for other ousted officials. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo parrots “Trump’s talking points.” The nominee for attorney general, William Barr, attacked special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe in a memo to the Justice Department. National security adviser John Bolton tossed his antiRussia views to win favor with his boss. Mattis’ replacement will be cut from the same cloth, because Trump simply won’t be told no.