On this Washington Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our guests in segment one are Michael Bayer, former 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, and Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute.

Topics:

— Confirming Gen. Lloyd Austin, USA Ret., as America’s 28th defense secretary

— Stalled negotiations over a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package

— Update on the National Defense Authorization Act, defense appropriations and omnibus to keep government from closing

— The implications of fierce liberal opposition to Democratic defense leaders like Michèle Flournoy and Jeh Johnson

— The diplomatic importance of the Senate’s rejection of a Joint Resolution of Disapproval of the proposed US sale of F-35 Lightning II fighters to the UAE

— Importance of nonpartisan advisory panels like the Defense Business Board