FAIRFAX, Va. — Elizabeth Warren came out swinging against defense contractors Thursday at a rally in Northern Virginia, a stone’s throw from some of the industry’s major players.
“I’m so excited, here we are in Fairfax. We are in the shadow of the Pentagon, also the shadow of the big five military contractors,” the Democratic presidential hopeful told a crowd of 1,100 at George Mason University. “I know there are a lot of really good people in the Department of Defense, really good people who work for our defense contractors, but here’s the problem: too many of our defense contractors, they don’t just want a seat at the table, they want to own the table. And that’s a problem.”
Warren, a senator for Massachusetts, earlier Thursday introduced the Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act in Congress, which proposes new restrictions on former officials lobbying the Pentagon and advising foreign governments. At the rally, the 69-year-old said the bill would provide “basic rules of ethics for the Department of Defense.”
“How about just a little transparency in this area?” she said.
While Warren — whose three older brothers served in the military — said she understood the sacrifice of service members, veterans, and their families, she also skewered President Trump’s pick to head DOD. She described acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan as someone who has “absolutely zero military experience,” “absolutely zero foreign policy experience,” and “absolutely zero experience in government.”
“What does he have experience in? Improving the profitability of Boeing,” the former Harvard Law School professor said. “Well, my view on this is nobody in America should be in a position of wondering when the secretary of defense makes a decision, whether that’s a decision to improve the safety and security of the people of the United States or a decision to improve the profitability of Boeing. So, I think we should reject his nomination.”
