On this Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our guests are Gordon Adams, PhD, Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute, Dov Zakheim, PhD, former DoD comptroller, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute and Michael Herson, President and CEO, American Defense International.

Topics:

— Unanimous House Armed Services Committee passage of the “William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021”

— Potential Senate concerns with House NDAA and prospects for congressional override of President Trump’s threat to veto budget over changing names of bases memorializing Confederate leaders

— NDAA policy nuances with potentially large DoD impacts

— Update on fourth stimulus package as the coronavirus pandemic worsens in the wake of premature reopening moves nationwide

— Congressional reaction to China’s crackdown on Hong Kong and Russia’s offering bounties to the Taliban for attacks on US troops in Afghanistan

— Whether lawmakers can punish Beijing and Moscow if Trump fails to do so

— Implications of outcomes in recent primary races

— Australia’s move to focus on China as a regional threat, boost defense spending and reconsider alliances