Washington (CNN) House Democrats are fuming after Ret. Gen. James Mattis abruptly canceled his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee slated for Thursday. The move is triggering a backlash from top House Democrats who say without hearing directly from Mattis they will oppose legislation paving the way for his confirmation.

"The Republicans have been spending eight years complaining about the executive branch usurping legislative branch power and here's their first move from the new administration is to ignore us on something," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, the top Democrat on the panel told reporters Wednesday.

Smith added, "This is a law. We have to pass it and we want to hear from him and if we don't we are going to vote no."

Current law prohibits anyone who has served in the military in the last seven years to have a top leadership position in the Pentagon. That means Congress needs to pass a law that provides an exception for Mattis, who retired three years ago, to serve as defense secretary before the Senate votes on his confirmation.

Smith told reporters that Trump transition officials made the decision to pull Mattis from the House hearing Wednesday. Mattis did initially agree to House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry's request to appear and answer questions from members about taking a job typically held by civilians.

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