Retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, is reportedly butting heads with members of Trump's team two weeks before inauguration day.
A Washington Post report claims the tension is due to differing opinions on who should fill several civilian positions at the Department of Defense. Mattis, according to the Post, has rejected many candidates for those jobs.
"Mattis was furious," a source told the Post. "It made him suspicious of the transition team, and things devolved from there."
Mattis, whose last military assignment was commander of United States Central Command, retired in 2013. Trump nominated him to his cabinet on Dec. 1. The Post reports that he wants more input as to who works under him at the Pentagon — and he's trying to avoid having to work with Trump insiders who may not get along with him.
After the Post story was published, Trump's transition team emailed this statement to the newspaper: "We are ahead of schedule with assembling the most qualified cabinet and administration in history. Any implication contrary to that is completely false and from sources who do not have any knowledge of our transition efforts."
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Mattis has been meeting with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and that he resigned from his position as a board member of Theranos Inc.
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