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, Dr Gordon Adams, the senior White House budget official for national security during the Clinton administration who is now a distinguished fellow at the Quincy Institute and the Stimson Center as well as an American University professor emeritus, 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:

— Takeaways from Dr. Kath Hicks’ confirmation hearing to become deputy defense secretary and key challenges she faces once she becomes the Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian

— Update on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package and implications for future bipartisan legislation

— A look at new Senate Armed Services Committee members as well as new subcommittee structure

— Analysis of Biden’s first major foreign policy address including decisions decision to cut US troops in Germany and stop supporting Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen including suspending arms sales to the Gulf kingdom

— Need for whole of government national security approaches

— Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s reviews on US global force posture, nuclear weapons, Afghanistan troop footprint as well as 60-day stand down to battle extremism in the ranks

— The role of DoD advisory boards and the ones worth preserving