On this Washington Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our guests in segment one are Michael Bayer, the chairman of the Defense Business Board and the president of the Dumbarton Strategies consultancy, and Arnold Punaro, the chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association and CEO of the Punaro Group consultancy to discuss the ongoing presidential transition and how to best accomplish the monumental task of a peaceful transition of power. 

In segment two, our roundtable guests are Dov Zakheim, PhD, former DoD comptroller, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Gordon Adams, PhD, Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute, Michael Herson, President and CEO, American Defense International, Byron Callan of the independent equity research firm Capital Alpha Partners and Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute.

Topics:

— What President-elect Biden’s cabinet picks say about the qualities he values in senior leaders

— Update on National Defense Authorization Act, appropriations and latest coronavirus stimulus talks

— New leaders at the House Armed Services, Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees

— Candidates Biden is assessing as his defense secretary and implications for a delayed selection

— Importance of diversity in leadership positions

— How a Republican Senate will welcome Biden nominees

— Trump administration’s Schedule F designation for civil servants and implications of mass firings on transition to Biden administration\

— Continuing opposition to sale of F-35 Lightning II fighters to UAE by Democratic senators