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.
When Congress returns to Washington next week, it will begin work on what will probably be the last in a series of stopgap spending bills keeping the government running in this fiscal year, says Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.). The spending package is likely to include domestic programs and Defense Department funding.
In the ongoing congressional battle over how best to rein in government budgets, Senate Republicans are trying to move defense spending to the front of the line. In speeches on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said they would refuse to consider another short-term spending bill unless defense was funded for the rest of the fiscal year.
The ongoing battle in Congress that has kept the Pentagon funded at the same level as last year has the potential to affect budget plans in 2013, the chief of naval operations said March 16. Top Navy officials have been warning for months that continued funding at 2010 levels would devastate operations and maintenance and military construction accounts, as well as the service’s contract to purchase two Virginia-class submarines and its plans to buy destroyers and parts for aircraft carriers.
