Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), as the most senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, likely will replace Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who died Monday, as the head of the panel. The Hill reports that Dicks would be acting panel chairman pending a formal vote, for which he is lining up support. Dicks, who called Murtha a “strong leader and exceptionally fair chairman” of the defense spending panel in a statement on his death, is a long-time proponent of Boeing, which has major production facilities in Washington state. He has led a Congressional push to get the Obama Administration to bar EADS (teamed with Northrop Grumman) from competing in the KC-X tanker program over the European government subsidies issue.
Golden Dome Details Begin to Emerge
Dec. 7, 2025
The Golden Dome air and missile defense shield to protect the United States will have some “operational capability” in 2028, the program’s leader said Dec. 6 at the Reagan National Defense Forum.
