Pentagon to Study Boeing-McDonnell Deal

A senior Pentagon official will study the proposed merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas and offer recommendations to the antitrust agency that reviews the deal. John Goodman, deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial affairs, is expected to assess “what national security consequences it could have,” a spokesman said. A decision is expected within two weeks on whether the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department will review the deal, he added. On Capitol Hill, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized the proposal in a letter sent to Defense Secretary William Perry and Atty. Gen. Janet Reno. He said the government “may soon be forced to buy weaponry for all of our armed forces from a de facto monopoly of just one or two mega-contractors.”