Thanks to the Harry Reid Rule (Nuclear Option), no one cares what the Democrats think any more about nominations.
Supposedly Mattis needs 60 votes for a Senate waiver due to his not being out of the service for 7 years. He’ll get it. Just a lot of posturing now.
I agree. The waiver is a separate issue from confirmation. The latter now only needs a majority, but a waiver will require a change in the existing law, and that change could theoretically be filibustered.
But Democrats are not going to go to the mats with a filibuster over the waiver. They will save the filibuster for more important matters, or risk the Republicans nuking the legislative filibuster as well.
Furthermore, Mattis is enormously popular, especially with enlisted military forces and veterans. There's about a dozen Senate Democrats who are facing very tough races in 2018. Think they are going to oppose Mattis and thereby guarantee their defeats? Think they can withstand the enormous public pressure that voters in their home states will apply? I don't. The waiver will pass easily.