Defense News reports that “US House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor’s stunning primary defeat is a huge blow to the US defense sector, and could allow an up-and-coming GOP deficit hawk to replace Cantor, or even become House speaker, sources say.”  

“Cantor announced he would resign as House majority leader July 31, according to the Washington Post.”  

“Republican sources and Washington insiders say the Virginia Republican’s lopsided loss will remove a major defense-sector ally from the ranks of the House Republican leadership team. What’s more, they agreed there are few immediate scenarios under which another friend of the military-congressional-industrial complex fills Cantor’s spot.”  

“’From a defense perspective, this is certainly not a good thing. Cantor was really the only leader for the defense community in the House,’ said one GOP source with ties to the defense sector. ‘He’s the only one in leadership who advocated for defense. And he’s the only one who had dedicated staff on defense issues in the leadership team.’”