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.
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee will be pushing to spend up to $524 billion on defense in fiscal 2012 – more money on defense than his Senate counterparts are recommending. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sept. 15 approved a bill that removes nearly $26 billion from President Barack Obama’s request, providing $513 billion. That is a far steeper reduction than the $9 billion trim the House passed earlier in the year. But the House acted long before the summer’s all-consuming budget debate.
The bill to extend the FAA’s operating authority is in peril again. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) won’t agree to the bill because of a provision on transportation enhancements in the highway bill that is moving through Congress with the FAA extension. “I’m not interested in holding up the FAA bill,” Coburn says, going on to blast the offending portion of the highway bill. “I’m interested in not spending money that doesn’t help bridges and highways and wasting 10% of the surface transportation budget on something that doesn’t help anybody.”
