Who sets our defense policies?

My views have never totally aligned with Ben Thompson's, and his latest Stratechery piece reinforced that. Gruber asks:

Who sets our defense policies? Our democratically elected leaders, or the CEOs of corporate defense contractors?

Normally, I'd acknowledge that it should of course be the former, but lately, not so much. Is there a third option? I hate that I think like this, now. Thompson's hypothetical is dumb, anyway.