On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and Pentagon comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the longest US government shutdown; President Trump’s call that senators break the filibuster to end the closure as Democrats have a banner Election Day; the Senate votes on a new war powers resolution as the administration hints at military action to topple the Maduro government in Venezuela; Russian forces advance toward Pokrovsk seen as key to controlling Donetsk; takeaways from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visits to Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia where he met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun as the president continued to comment on Xi Jinping, a Taiwan invasion and nuclear testing in the wake of his trip to Asia last week, and saying American forces would take action in Nigeria to stop what he called mass killings of christians by Islamist militants even though there appears no evidence of such sectarian violence; Hegseth’s meeting on Friday with top defense and aerospace executives to unveil his new acquisition reforms to more quickly field new weapons; Saudi Arabia wants F-35 Lightning II fighters as Mohamed bin Sultan to Washington next week; and the legacies of former Vice President Dick Cheney dies at age 84 and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said she would retire in 2027 after more than four decades in the House.
