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Defense Secretary Waiver Included in Crucial House Funding Bill

Language to allow Gen. James Mattis to bypass service requirement to serve as defense secretary is included in key House funding bill.
Image: Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., second from left, joined by, from left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks to reporters during a news conference, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

House Republicans Tuesday released a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded through April 28, 2017, a measure that needs to be passed before Friday, December 9th to avoid a government shutdown.

Included in the legislation is language that would allow Gen. James Mattis to bypass the requirement that a service member be retired for at least seven years before serving as secretary of defense.

President-elect Donald Trump last week announced his intention to name Mattis to head the Defense Department and made a more formal announcement Tuesday night at a rally in North Carolina, part of his "thank-you" tour in key battleground states.

Related: Trump Picks Tough Talking Gen. James 'Mad Dog' Mattis as Secretary of Defense

Also of note in the House bill is $7 million in additional funding "for the purpose of providing reimbursement for the extraordinary law enforcement overtime costs directly and solely associated with protection of the President-elect incurred from November 9, 2016 until the inauguration of the president-elect as president."

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, had asked that the federal government reimburse the city $35 million to cover security costs for the president-elect as he lives there between now and the inauguration.