Defense Industry Dodges A Bullet In Debt Compromise (From Forbes)

The debt-ceiling compromise that the House of Representatives passed this week is good news for the defense industry. Not only is the Pentagon being funded at the level President Biden requested for 2024, but there is a good chance that supplemental appropriations for assisting Ukraine will raise weapons outlays higher. Military outlays are the largest component of federal discretionary spending, and weapons programs are politically easier to cut than personnel or readiness. So the fact that the Pentagon’s investment accounts have escaped the debt compromise unscathed is remarkable, and perhaps signals a bipartisan consensus on the need to modernize the armed forces. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.