Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.
Prior to taking on her current role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
BUDGET DRAMA: With all the current budget uncertainty in Washington as the deadline for sequestration looms, the White House has delayed the submission of its fiscal 2014 budget. There is little indication at this point when the Obama administration will formally offer its budget to Congress. But last week, the Office of Management and Budget finally submitted budget paperwork to federal agencies; an event that typically happens in December.
As across-the-board reductions to federal spending draw closer, the military services are firming up their plans for major reductions in spending and sizing up the one-two punch of sequestration along with the possibility that they may have to continue subsisting on fiscal 2012-level funding in 2013. Not only will the spending cutbacks prompt mass furloughs of Pentagon civilians and potential damage to the industrial base, but they could also cause additional delays and cost increases for Pentagon procurement programs.
Democrats and Republicans are uniting around the idea of reforming immigration, but one of the obstacles to an agreement will be how to open immigration to highly skilled foreigners without displacing American workers. A proposal in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and others currently calls for expanding the H1-B visa process. And President Barack Obama gave the idea support during a speech in Las Vegas on Jan. 29. He talked about top technology companies that were started by immigrants who studied in the U.S.
