Congress acts to protect the Philly region’s defense plants, giving Lockheed Martin and Boeing a boost
Philly Inquirer
July 3, 2020
Who is winning this year’s fight over the U.S. military budget?
Is it Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Trump appointees, who say the nation spends too much on 20th-century-style tanks, trucks, and helicopters when it should invest in automated, cyber, and space systems made by such firms as Microsoft for possible use against China and Russia?
Or Congress, where members work hard to defend constituents and contributors at familiar factories run by Boeing and other industrial employers?
There’s money for both. Even though the $732 billion National Defense Authorization Act that sailed through the House Armed Services Committee with a bipartisan 56-0 vote late Wednesday is only about as big as last year’s budget (the Pentagon wanted $800 billion)