Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a government shutdown would be “very damaging to the military,” a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s comments less than 24 hours earlier when the president said he’d “love to see a shutdown.”
Mattis, citing concerns over how another shutdown would impact service members, urged Congress during Wednesday’s White House press briefing to back the newly introduced two-year budget deal proposed in the Senate on Wednesday, which would increase military and non-defense spending by $300 billion over two years.
But when asked about the impact of a potential government shutdown ahead of the Thursday’s deadline, the retired U.S. Marine Corps general didn’t take the president’s enthusiastic tone that was on display a day earlier.
“Shutting down the government would be very damaging to the military,” Mattis said, adding that it would have an even bigger impact on the U.S.’s defense than even another continuing resolution. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″]Retired Marine general and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis put America’s enemies on notice while speaking before the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday.
“If you threaten us, it will be your longest and worst day.”
“Our first line of effort emphasizes that everything we do must contribute to the lethality of our military,” Secretary Mattis stated. “In war, an enemy will attack a perceived weakness. Therefore, we cannot adopt a single pre set of warfare. If deterrence fails, we must win.” – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]Defense Secretary James Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee that if Congress enters another shutdown, his testimony and the National Defense Strategy will be rendered useless.
Mattis explained that Congress “rightfully mandated” the National Defense Strategy but then entered a government shutdown, forcing the military to operate under a “disruptive continuing resolution.”
“It is not lost on me that as I testify before you this morning, we are again on the verge of a government shutdown, or at best, another damaging continuing resolution,” he said in his opening statement. – READ MORE