Brian Everstine is the Pentagon Editor for Aviation Week, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Aviation Week in August 2021, Brian covered the Pentagon for Air Force Magazine. Brian began covering defense aviation in 2011 as a reporter for Military Times. Over a decade as a defense journalist, he has reported from dozens of bases at home and abroad, including austere airstrips in Afghanistan, the cockpit of a B-52 over the South Pacific and the boom operator station of a KC-46. Before the military beat, Brian covered the Washington state legislature for the Associated Press.
Forty GOP members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee called for a 5% increase in the Pentagon’s budget in a March 23 letter to President Joe Biden, while the Democratic leader of the Senate panel is urging some patience and to wait for a new strategy.
The Biden administration’s pick to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s military programs told lawmakers he would review the plan to increase production of plutonium pits at two NNSA locations, as it becomes increasingly evident the administration will likely fall short of the goal.
The White House’s pick to take over weapons buying for the Pentagon will, if confirmed, come into a department that is continuing to grapple with high sustainment costs on its biggest acquisition program.
