WASHINGTON – The Democrats’ recapturing the House means three major impacts on the Defense Department: The odds are that controversial Trump priorities like new nuclear weapons and a Space Force will go nowhere, defense budgets will go down, and oversight will go up, up, up. Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
12 Nov. 2018 -- The most likely losers are nuclear modernization programs, which leading Democrats like Adam Smith, the prospective House Armed Services Committee chairman, have criticized as unnecessary, excessive, and destabilizing.
Trump’s proposed Space Force is another loser. This is a personal initiative of the president. It is unlikely that a Democratic House will give Trump such a visible political accomplishment.
Opposition parties always criticize the administration’s supporters in Congress for not being more aggressive in overseeing the budget and government activities. Hearings provide a mechanism by which an opposition party can publicly question the administration, stir up its base, and prepare the ground for legislation in the long term, even it’s if not politically viable in the short term.
Related: Here’s the Pentagon’s initial plan for creating a Space Force
Related: Nuclear modernization, cyber security top Trump defense priorities
Related: Modernizing America's nuclear weapons arsenal may not be as expensive as you think
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
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