Based in Washington, Jen managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage from 2013 to January 2024.
Prior to taking on the Executive Editor 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 Pentagon spent years studying how to navigate the effects of budget cuts on its industrial base. Now, cuts are likely to be imposed on the Defense Department, which will have little ability to manage them, officials fear.
With Congress preparing for a weeklong Presidents Day recess, lawmakers are predicting that come March 1, across-the-board budget cuts are going to take hold. “I think it’s going to happen,” Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters during a Feb. 15 Defense Writers Group breakfast. “Both sides are locked into positions that they can’t seem to get away from, and so I think we’re going to be forced into it.”
Days after the White House issued a new directive on cybersecurity, House Intelligence Committee leaders are saying their bill to help secure the nation’s computer systems has a chance of passing this year. If so, it would represent a remarkable turnabout from last year, when three efforts to pass cybersecurity legislation through Congress failed. By the end of the year, lawmakers were skeptical about the future prospects of such legislation.
