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, 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 and Byron Callan of the independent equity research firm Capital Alpha Partners.

Topics:

— Defense and aerospace implications of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan

— Latest “passback” budget guidance from the Biden administration to Pentagon as officials develop their 2022 spending plan

— Programs vulnerable to pressure as the administration flattens defense spending

— Whether Congress will embrace administration efforts to bolster spending to deter China, including US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Phil Davidson’s $27 billion Pacific Deterrence Intiative

— Willingness of lawmakers to make hard program choices as Pentagon budgets flatten and congressional leaders like House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., call for major shifts including dialing back Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II fighter effort

— How the Biden administration’s drive to pressure Afghan government to strike a deal with Taliban as White House fails to coordinate with NATO allies on eight-page Afghanistan peace plan is viewed by allies and partners

— Role of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq

— Importance of Pope Francis’ historic visit to Baghdad