(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday that the Trump administration is considering taking stakes in major US weapons firms, comments that came after the US government announced it was acquiring a 10% stake in Intel, the US chip-making giant.
“Oh, there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick said when asked in a CNBC interview if the administration was considering taking pieces of US defense firms, such as Boeing, Palantir, and Lockheed Martin.
“Lockheed Martin makes 97% of their revenue from the US government. They are basically an arm of the US government. They make exquisite munitions, amazing things that can knock a missile out of the air when it’s coming towards you,” Lutnick added.
Lutnick said that Pentagon officials were discussing the idea. “What’s the economics of that? I’m going to leave that to my secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense; these guys are on it and are thinking about it,” he said.
Major US weapons firms already have a significant influence on US policy due to their funding of think tanks and what is known as the “revolving door” between the US government and defense firms. Many senior US military officers go to work for defense contractors after retiring from the military, and sometimes they return to working for the government and push policies that greatly benefit their former employers.
William Hartung of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft warned about the potential for the US government to take direct stakes in US weapons firms in comments to Reuters, saying it may “incentivize the government to put financial success for Lockheed Martin ahead of more important strategic considerations … We need some healthy distance between the government and the companies it is supposed to regulate.”
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
