President Joe Biden met virtually on Monday with the chief executive of Lockheed Martin and other companies to spur forward a bill to boost semiconductor production in the United States.
The report from DoD’s acquisition and sustainment office, which says broadly that consolidation poses a national security risk, marks the strongest U.S. government objection to merger and acquisition activity since the defense secretary in 2015 discouraged deals among the largest prime contractors.
The Senate could consider the annual defense authorization bill as soon as Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., abandoned a controversial push to merge it with sweeping China-focused legislation.
Packaging the annual defense bill with another sweeping bill to make the U.S. more competitive with China will swamp the entire thing, the Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee is warning.
A new report from a Ronald Reagan Institute task force aimed at revitalizing U.S. manufacturing to compete with China recommends reskilling workers using federal education grants, investing in sectors vital to national security and boosting tech development with allies.