Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) will be ranking member for the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee (HAC-D) for the 116th Congress, his office said Tuesday.
Calvert has served in the House since 1993. He was previously a member of the HAC-D subcommittee, serving as vice chairman in the 115th Congress.
In a statement, Calvert said he looks forward to working with the Defense Department on “new challenges in the areas of cyber, space, [artificial intelligence], and in maintaining our technological superiority.”
He also highlighted that the role of Congress should be that of “strenuous oversight” and vowed to question the Pentagon and attempt to improve acquisition processes and reduce bureaucratic overhead.
He called former HAC-D Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) a “champion for our men and women” and said he looked forward to working with new subcommittee chair Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.). Granger was selected to be ranking member of the full House Appropriations Committee for the 116th Congress, while Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) will lead the committee as chair.
Calvert received $144,500 from defense contractors in the electronics, aerospace and miscellaneous technology sectors during the 2018 midterm cycle, mostly from political action committees, according to the not-for profit Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C.
Defense contractors were his top three contributors for the 2018 cycle: General Atomics contributed $24,300, with $14,300 of that coming from individuals. Northrop Grumman contributed $20,000 from its political action committee, and General Dynamics contributed $16,800, with $6,800 coming from individual donors.
Over the course of his career in the House, he has received $368,830 from defense aerospace industries, and $319,900 from defense electronics firms in campaign donations. His top contributors include General Atomics, with $118,900 donated over the course of Calvert’s career; Lockheed Martin with $87,750 in that timeframe; Boeing with $85,750; and General Dynamics with $84,400. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Honeywell, and Leidos Inc. have each contributed more than $72,000 to Calvert’s campaign since he first ran for office.
