A $17 Billion Pot of National-Security Stimulus Aid Goes Begging
- Defense contractors complain about Treasury’s strict criteria
- Boeing’s decision not to take the money freed it for others
A B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
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There’s a $17 billion pot of money in the pandemic aid package for companies vital to national security -- and no one seems to want it.
The $2 trillion rescue package Congress adopted in late March includes loans and loan guarantees specifically for companies “critical to maintaining national security.” The funds at first were seen as largely directed at Boeing Co., which at the time had been pleading for a government bailout. But after selling $25 billion in bonds to investors, the aircraft maker turned down the aid, which would have come with strings attached that it didn’t like.