Defense Contractors Ask Government to Backfill DoD Money Used to Cover COVID-19 Expenses

The CEOs of eight defense contractors wrote separate letters to the White House and the Department of Defense saying that the money sourced from DoD’s budget to help companies retain highly skilled employees during the COVID-19 pandemic should be replaced with new funds to prevent military modernization programs from being jeopardized, Reuters reported Thursday.

The July 7 letters were signed by the leaders of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) defense business, Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII), Textron (NYSE: TXT), L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and BAE Systems Inc.

The report said the Pentagon has asked the Office of Management and Budget for “lower double-digit billions” to help defense companies maintain a “ready workforce.”

Jim McAleese, a GovCon expert, founder and principal at McAleese & Associates and a three-time Wash100 awardee, said the next stimulus package could require $12B to $15B in additional funds to help companies cover pandemic-related costs, according to the report.

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