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 is facing a “confluence of unfortunate events,” says the Pentagon’s top budget official, including the possibility of sequestration, a full-year continuing resolution and the need to protect funding for the war in Afghanistan.
As the incoming top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), sees his top priority as avoiding cuts to the defense budget under sequestration. Those cut are scheduled to be implemented in late March, unless Congress acts before that time.
The next round of discussions about how to prevent across-the-board cuts from falling on the Defense Department is now beginning, just after President Obama signed into law an act that delays them until March. Members of the armed services committees, particularly on the Republican side, will be trying to reduce the deficit while sparing the Pentagon. But an industry analyst envisions the eventual cut to defense would be about half of the $55 billion annual reduction recommended by sequestration.
