BRUNSWICK
In a letter released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, retired Gen. James Mattis agreed to resign from the board of General Dynamics and recuse himself from matters involving the company for one year after becoming Secretary of Defense. He also agreed to divest himself of all stock and vested options within 90 days.
“Upon confirmation, I will resign from my position with General Dynamics. For a period of one year after my resignation, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know General Dynamics is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 2635.502(d),” wrote Mattis.
General Dynamics operates three shipyards with large contracts with the Pentagon: Electric Boat in Connecticut, NASSCO in California, and Bath Iron Works in Maine. As Secretary of Defense, Mattis would oversee departments and budgets with deep ties to those three shipbuilders. In fact, BIW has previously stated that they will be submitting a bid to build the next round of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in early 2017.
Mattis resigned from the board of biotech company Theranos, Inc. in December. In the last few months, Mattis has separated himself from a number of companies, nonprofits and think tanks. The only two organizations he has not resigned from is General Dynamics and the Hoover Institute, where he is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow.
Mattis retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2013. Among other positions, he served as the Commander of the United States Central Command as well as the Commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. Retired military officers must wait seven years after retirement to become Secretary of Defense. However, both the House and Senate can pass an exemption allowing Mattis to take the position.
Mattis’ confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on which Sen. Angus King, IMaine, serves.
nstrout@timesrecord.com
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