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S. 84 (115th): A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces.

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About the bill

Secretary of Defense James Mattis, appointed on President Trump's first day in office, was a four-star Marine general. Mattis’s recent service upends the traditional separation where the Defense Secretary — the official in charge of the Pentagon and most of the American military — is a non-uniformed civilian, while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the the nation’s top-ranking military official.

To maintain that separation, Congress passed a law decades ago stipulating that nobody can serve as Defense Secretary within seven years after leaving the service. Mattis has only been out of the service for just shy of four years.

A law enacted on the President’s first day in office, S. 84, granted Mattis a waiver from the law.

What the bill does

The bill …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor John McCain

John McCain

Sponsor. Senator for Arizona. Republican.

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Last Updated: Jan 18, 2017
Length: 1 page
Introduced
Jan 10, 2017
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Status

Enacted — Signed by the President on Jan 20, 2017

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on January 20, 2017.

Law
Pub.L. 115-2
Source
Congress.gov

Incorporated legislation

This bill incorporates provisions from:

H.R. 393: To provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of …

Ordered Reported on Jan 12, 2017. 100% incorporated. (compare text)

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History

Jan 10, 2017
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Jan 12, 2017
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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Jan 12, 2017
 
Passed Senate (House next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the Senate. It goes to the House next.

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Jan 13, 2017
 
Passed House

The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill.

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Jan 20, 2017
 
Enacted — Signed by the President

The President signed the bill and it became law.

S. 84 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 84. This is the one from the 115th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

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“S. 84 — 115th Congress: A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as ….” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. September 26, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s84>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.