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.
Democrats and Republicans are uniting around the idea of reforming immigration, but one of the obstacles to an agreement will be how to open immigration to highly skilled foreigners without displacing American workers. A proposal in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and others currently calls for expanding the H1-B visa process. And President Barack Obama gave the idea support during a speech in Las Vegas on Jan. 29. He talked about top technology companies that were started by immigrants who studied in the U.S.
After a bruising confirmation hearing, all former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) can do now is wait. The White House expects his confirmation to be the next defense secretary will proceed. Going into the hearing, Hagel was likely to be confirmed with mostly Democratic support. That may still be the case, but at this point, Republicans are not ruling out the possibility of imposing a 60-vote threshold on his confirmation—a move that could kill the nomination.
ARMS CONTROL: After a Senate vote to reject a block on delivery of F-16 aircraft and M1 tanks to Egypt, Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has introduced a bill that would put conditions on the transfer. The bill would delay transport of the Lockheed Martin jets and General Dynamics tanks until Egypt upholds commitments under the Camp David Accords and provides proper security at U.S. embassies there.
