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.
One year ago, with a newly elected Republican-majority House of Representatives, Rep. John Mica picked up the gavel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and vowed that the 17th extension of the FAA's funding authority would be the last. Congress has since approved five more extensions, with Mica at the forefront of negotiations that led to a two-week shutdown of the aviation agency.
The U.S. Air Force must head back to the drawing board in 2012 to once again rethink its successor to the aging Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft currently in orbit, now that Congress has preemptively taken the budget ax to Northrop Grumman’s Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS). The fiscal 2012 defense spending bill passed last week provides $43 million in termination costs for DWSS and $125 million for a follow-on satellite. Lawmakers cut the Pentagon’s $444.9 million request.
Congress has given a thumbs down to the next-generation SM-3 Block IIB interceptor, part of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, but the Obama administration may be aiming to keep it alive. The defense spending bill for fiscal 2012 pares back funding to $13.5 million from a request of $123.5 million. Congressional aides, however, say the administration is planning to transfer money to keep development of the system alive.
