Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)

Jack Reed, Senator, (D-Rhode Island)

Responsibilities

Signaling the political shift in Congressional leadership, Jack Reed, the Democratic senator from Rhode Island who led the committee since 2021, is now the Ranking Member of SASC for the 119th Congress, with Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS), presiding as Chair.

The cornerstone of SASC’s authority lies in setting the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Quote

When speaking of Wicker, Reed wrote: “I am honored to lead the Committee along with Senator Roger Wicker. He is a dedicated public servant, an Air Force veteran, and a real expert on defense and national security issues. We previously led the Seapower Subcommittee together several years ago and I know Roger to be thoughtful, resolute, and fair. We will continue our bipartisan traditions of rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense and working together to pass a strong National Defense Authorization Act.”

Stated Priorities

• Maintain naval and expeditionary strength.
• Expand Rhode Island’s seaport capacity. Both Reed and Wicker share a vested interest in supporting Naval assets. Rhode Island in particular, draws major aerospace and defense contractors to its doorstep. While chairing the Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, he secured more than $17 billion in submarine shipbuilding, supporting the Ocean State’s long history of naval defense.
• Strengthen Rhode Island’s transportation networks. 

• Opposes the new DoD directive to limit transgender military, calling it “a betrayal of these patriotic individuals and undermines the notion of merit-based military standards.”  
• Develop technologies to build infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Modernize the nuclear triad.

Committees

Reed first joined the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1998, becoming the Ranking Member in 2015. Between 2021 and 2025, he chaired the Committee. He also serves on:

• Senate Committee on Appropriations.
• Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
• Serves on Cybersecurity, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Airland, Personnel, Seapower, and Strategic Forces Subcommittees.

• Both Reed and Wicker serve as ex-officio (non-voting) members of all subcommittees, given their current positions as SASC’s Ranking Member and Chair, respectfully. 

Military/Business/Political Career

• Army Ranger and Paratrooper. Served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an Infantry Platoon Leader, a Company Commander, and a Battalion Staff Officer. Served in both the Army (1971-1979) and in the Army Reserve (1979-1991). 
• Associate professor, Department of Social Sciences, U.S. Military Academy (1977 until 1979). 
• Joined the faculty at West Point, teaching economics and international relations as an Associate Professor within the Social Sciences department.
• Attorney specializing in banking and securities law, first working with the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill, & Brennan, and later for Edwards & Angell. 
• Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996.
• Elected to the U. S. House of Representatives (1990), where he focused on education and health care for the next six years.
• Served three terms in the Rhode Island State Senate (1985-1990), focusing on housing, children’s welfare, and mental health issues.

Background

Early Years

• The 75-year-old native of Cranston, RI, is the son of Mary Louise and Joseph Anthony Reed. His father, a machinist in the Navy during World War II, later became the custodial supervisor of Cranston’s school system.  

Education

• Attended St. Matthew’s Elementary School in Cranston, RI and graduated from La Salle Academy in Providence.

• West Point Military Academy (BS-1971). 
• Master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (1973).
• Law degree from Harvard Law School (1982).

Personal

Reed is married to Julia Hart, a former Senate staffer. Married for 13 years, they met on a Congressional trip to Afghanistan. They have one daughter.

Awards

Over the course of his military career, Reed earned the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Expert Infantry Badge.