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Republican Rep. Kay Granger, the number one recipient of defense sector donations in the House and a “vocal supporter” of the over-budget F-35 fighter program, will chair the House Committee on Appropriations.

by David Moore, Sludge

Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger, who co-founded the Joint Strike Fighter Caucus in 2011 to fend off budget cuts to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 weapons system, is the new chair of the committee that doles out hundreds of billions of dollars to fund defense contracts.

With Republicans taking control of the U.S. House, this week Granger took the gavel of the House Committee on Appropriations, which allocates federal funds and takes the lead on supplemental spending bills throughout the year. Granger’s leadership of the committee comes after she was elected its ranking member by Republicans in 2019.

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS HEARING ROOM - US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - office entrance sign - Rayburn House Office Building

The new Republican House majority has introduced uncertainty to federal budgeting plans this year, unsteadying even military spending, which has been on the rise for the past eight years. In negotiations with his caucus to become House Speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy reportedly made a deal that could cap federal spending at 2022 levels, which would walk back some $75 billion that was added to the 2023 defense authorization package at the end of last year. Shortly after news of McCarthy’s deal with House Freedom Caucus members came out, with the possibility that Pentagon outlays would be trimmed from planned levels, stocks of defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman tumbled.

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