Everyone is talking about James Mattis’s resignation as Secretary of Defense—here’s why

Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has seen countless staff resignations. The president is currently on his third chief of staff, and he’s had two press secretaries in as many years (former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci only lasted 10 days). Secretary of Defense James Mattis is the most recent person to leave the Trump White House, and it’s a big deal.

Mattis announced that he was stepping down yesterday, December 20th. His announcement came after Trump declared that he plans to pull troops out of Syria and order 7,000 more to leave Afghanistan. Mattis was reportedly against both of these moves, and in his resignation letter, obtained by CNN, he wrote that the president should hire a new Secretary of Defense “whose views are better aligned” with his.

Mattis cited the president’s support of authoritarianism in countries like Russia as a reason for his departure, and he stressed the importance of the United States’s “unique and comprehensive system of alliances,” including NATO members. He argued that the U.S. should respect its allies—something that Trump has been criticized for failing to do.

To be quite clear, James Mattis is resigning because the President does not support democracy over authoritarianism. https://t.co/bgKnryCWQH

— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 21, 2018

James Mattis’ resignation letter is Exhibit A on why this is a lie. https://t.co/52AMJ1T7Cu

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) December 21, 2018

As NPR notes, Mattis’s departure means only two of Trump’s original security and policy advisers remain (and one of those two, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, is also planning to leave by the end of the year). Mattis, a former four-star Marine Corps general, was also considered one of the few “adults in the room” in the Trump administration. According to NPR, he even reportedly convinced Trump not to torture captive terror suspects. Vox points out that he also may have persuaded Trump to deal diplomatically with North Korea and dissuaded the president from worsening Syria’s civil war by ordering the assassination of their president.

Many see Mattis’s departure as reason to worry.

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Retired Lt. General @MarkHertling reacts to the resignation of James Mattis:

"When a guy like Mattis says he's gone, there's something dysfunctional. And there's a lot of things in this administration that are dysfunctional."https://t.co/iTkINXl8uP pic.twitter.com/82Q71PsB5x

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) December 21, 2018

With James Mattis quitting, @RepSwalwell says the only "adults in the room" remaining in the Trump administration are Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway, adding "that should terrify everyone."

Swalwell notes: "We do have an executive branch in crisis."https://t.co/AtSXHLGiNp pic.twitter.com/xDF36a7xRt

— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) December 21, 2018

Needless to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.