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.
Now what? In August, it seemed as if the U.S. Congress might finally be coming to its senses, putting together an agreement to force itself to reduce the massive U.S. budget deficit. But at the first opportunity for success, a bipartisan panel created to save lawmakers from themselves bolted, leaving the defense industry holding the bag.
Prospects for wrapping up the defense spending bill for fiscal 2012 by the Dec. 16 deadline are dimming. Defense is currently being funded through a continuing resolution along with much of the rest of the federal government. “It’s likely that the continuing resolution will be extended further, perhaps into January,” says Todd Harrison, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is again calling on Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole to commission an independent study of the health effects of passenger screening machines. Pistole had told Collins during a Nov. 2 Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that he would start a study of the backscatter Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines, said Collins. But Pistole then told the Senate Commerce Committee–and CNN–that a Homeland Security Inspector General report would suffice.
