Post-Midterms US Defense Priorities

• The White House finally withdrew [Navy Times] the nomination of Jo Ann Rooney as the US Navy’s Undersecretary, after a year in limbo [Next Navy]. The Administration will have to nominate people whose qualifications don’t seem such a stretch for the job [CDR Salamander] if they want confirmations to stand a chance through a Senate (most likely) counting at least 53 Republicans.

• Senator John McCain [R-AZ] will prioritize [Defense News] repealing sequestration and going after cost overruns, once he’s chairman of the Armed Services Committee early next year. As the Avascent consultancy noted last week, McCain is a vocal critic of the F-35 and LCS programs, so the looming SSC/LCS decision for one will no doubt come under heavy scrutiny.

• The Pentagon’s Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) released data on acquisition competition late last month showing that DoD slighly exceeded its goal to compete 58% of FY14 procurement. But many of the Navy and Air Force’s large acquisitions – especially aircraft – remain sole sourced, with NAVAIR and AFMC‘s procurement reaching under 23% and 36% competed respectively. PDF | XLS.