On this Washington Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our roundtable guests are Dov Zakheim, PhD, former DoD comptroller, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Michael Herson, President and CEO, American Defense International and Bob Hale, former Pentagon comptroller and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Topics:

— Update on Biden administration’s upcoming defense budget

— National security elements of Biden’s $2.2 trillion infrastructure proposal as well as congressional support for the first of two planned reconciliation measures

— The need for DoD appointees

— Importance of granting DoD ability to more quickly redirect spending as necessary

— Proposal by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to cancel the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program and redirect funding to covid vaccine research

— GOP rebranding as anti-corporate, working-class party means for defense industry

—Russian buildup near Ukraine and possible collusion with China

— Netanyahu’s fate in the wake of Israel’s latest election

— Outlook for the Iran nuclear deal