WASHINGTON — If 1992, the year after US Rep. Kay Granger became the mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, is not a lesson in the local ups and downs of national defense, nothing is.

The Pentagon's shrinking demand for the F-16 Falcon fighter and its cancellation of the A-12 stealth attack plane had spurred more than 12,000 local layoffs. Then Bush administration reversed policy on F-16 sales to Taiwan and saved 3,000 local jobs.

In an interview with Defense News, the Republican politician remembered working to fix Fort Worth's spiraling crime and economic problems after defense jobs left. "My job as mayor was to make it safe again and bring industry back," she said. "That made me say that's what I want to do always. When I came to Congress, it was just a different kind of security."

Granger, the 72-year-old vice-chair of the powerful Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, or HAC-D, is competing for the chairmanship against full committee chair Hal Rogers, R-Ky, who is term-limited out of the job. If she succeeds, Granger would be a familiar friend in a high place for local programs like Lockheed's F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor, and Bell Helicopter Textron's V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.  

Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.,who is trading HAC-D chairman's job for chairman of the full House Appropriations Committee, plans to announce his subcommittee chairs in January, though the decision will likely involve House GOP leadership. 

For now, the low-key but effective Rogers, 78, confirmed he is seeking the job but wouldn't elaborate: "That's inside the beltway talk," he said. Arguments for Rogers include committee tradition, which dictates the outgoing chairman picks his next gavel and that Granger as HAC-D chair, alongside Mac Thornberry — who chairs House Armed Services Committee from the district adjacent to Granger — would put too much defense authority in the Lone Star State.

Among the arguments for Granger, known as a team player unafraid of ruffling feathers, is the GOP's need to promote women to big leadership positions. Granger herself is leaning in with the argument her experience is "one of the reasons why I’m going to get that appointment." In Congress for 20 years, Granger has spent ten years on the HAC-D and six years as chair of the State and the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which has direct oversight of the State Department and national security programs abroad.

Granger’s accession would be in step with the Pentagon and industry, where women "have never been in more powerful and more visible," she said. There’s Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson, Boeing Defense, Space, & Security CEO Leanne Caret, General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic, former BAE Systems CEO Linda Hudson, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Adm. Michelle Howard, the vice chief of naval operations.

Defense News interviewed Granger days before President-elect Donald Trump used Twitter to rip Boeing on Air Force One costs and said F-35 costs were "out of control." Despite cost overruns, Granger believes the F-35 is too important to fail, an aide said, and soon after Trump’s tweet, Granger hailed the new F-35 delivery to Israel as "what we need to keep our two countries safe in these dangerous times."

Granger declined to endorse Trump during the campaign and demanded he remove himself from contention after his vulgar Access Hollywood video surfaced. Recently, a "Make America Great Again" cap hung in her office as she diplomatically said she sees promise in his plans for a defense buildup. Granger herself wants to rebuild military readiness eroded by statutory budget caps.

"I certainly hope we’ll see that, but it’s a very ambitious plan," Granger said. "We haven’t had the people in place to make that happen, and now we do. So I’m very encouraged with what he says and the people he’s putting in positions of power."

In Trump, Granger sees a hard-charger with a fresh approach. That’s reflected in his choice of retired generals John Kelly for homeland security chief and James Mattis for defense secretary, who she said, "is going to be kick-butt, and that’s what what we need right now."

Congress ended this year by abandoning regular order for a stopgap spending bill through April 28, which Granger lamented, saying, "I hate the CR, but it’s all we have." Save for specifically named anomalies, a continuing resolution denies DoD authority to start new programs, increase production rates or initiate multiyear procurement—which is why the defense community opposes them.

This Congress has struggled to find compromises when Democrats insist on parity between defense and non-defense spending, and House fiscal conservatives’ insist against domestic spending increases and actions to lower the deficit. Yet Granger sees a growing bipartisan awareness that budget caps have critically eroded the US military, and that Congress must find the money elsewhere in the budget to fund defense.

Will there be the political will to repeal budget caps? Granger said, "I hope so, and I’ll work hard to do it."

"At some point you say, we can’t do this forever, the world’s too dangerous, and you see attacks inside the United States," Granger said. "If you’re like me you say less government is better, but the number one function is keeping us safe."

Without a Democratic president’s veto hanging over Congress, there may be room for lawmakers to increase defense spending. The election was a wakeup call to Republicans, Granger said, to end the dysfunction in Washington.

"I came back from after this election and said, 'Listen people, it’s not going to be business as usual,'" Granger said. "If we do it that way, we’re through."

Email: jgould@defensenews.comTwitter:

@ReporterJoe

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

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