Senate approves James Mattis to lead Pentagon

The US Senate on Friday confirmed the first member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, with both Republicans and Democrats voting overwhelmingly to approve retired General James Mattis as secretary of defense.

Mattis is a decorated general from the Marine Corps who has been praised by his colleagues in the Pentagon for the way he operated in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both Democrats and Republicans also have said positive things about him.

"Given the range of people who have been suggested, I think he will be a good choice," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen told Bloomberg in December.

“The president-elect is smart to think about putting someone as respected as Jim Mattis in this role,” a former senior Pentagon official told the Washington Post. “He’s a warrior, scholar and straight shooter - literally and figuratively. He speaks truth to everyone and would certainly speak truth to this new commander in chief.”

On Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly as well to recommend Mattis for secretary of defence, paving the way for his appointment.

Called “Mad Dog” and “The Warrior Monk,” Mattis lugged 6,000 books with him to Iraq in 2004 and was “known to carry books on Roman philosophy with him on every combat mission,” according to an NPR report.

Congress cleared the way for Mattis's quick confirmation last week by backing a waiver that would allow him to lead the Pentagon in spite of retiring from active duty in 2013. Only one other exception to that rule has been granted, to General George Marshall in 1950.