By Jen DiMascio
Now that the defense spending request is out of the hands of the president, lawmakers are meeting with the service chiefs of staff and some of the discussion will touch on items that could be added to the budget before it becomes law.
The president’s request released Feb. 4 left open a number of holes that Congress is likely to fill–among them: funding one engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, addressing only the final year in the multi-year purchase of F-22 Raptor fighter jets and including no money for C-17 Globemaster airlifters.
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee is tasked with crafting legislation, said he is meeting with the service chiefs–first with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley.
Though he said the administration’s request would present some complications, he flashed a smile, saying, “We’re going to have to make some changes.”
Those changes are likely to include more money for Boeing [BA] C-17s in fiscal year 2008 and FY ’09, according to Winslow Wheeler, the director of the Straus Military Reform Project for the Center for Defense Information who tracks these congressional plus-ups.
This year, the Air Force will publicly sit on its hands, and privately encourage the purchase of additional airlifters, Wheeler said, adding that doing so is “outrageously expensive.” The government could use commercial aircraft for transport for less money, Wheeler said.
Senate Republicans also are prepared to add back funding for programs they support.
For the last two years Congress has restored money to fund development of the General Electric [GE]-Rolls-Royce F-136 engine, instead of pursuing only the Pratt & Whitney [UTX] F-135 engine as proposed in the DoD budget request. This year will be no different, indicated Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).
“Give me time to put it back,” Warner told reporters yesterday when asked about the omission of funding for both engines.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) talked with Moseley about the F-22 Raptor and said the Air Force has made a good case for buying more of the stealth fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin [LMT]. That will require keeping the production line open for another year, which will ensure that the talent and workforce that produces fighter jets will remain able to make the F-35 on schedule, said Cornyn, the ranking member of the SASC airland subcommittee.
He added that Congress has the last word on the budget request.
“I don’t mean to demean it. It’s the president’s proposal,” Cornyn said. “But the president can’t appropriate a penny. That’s up to the Congress to do, and the president will certainly have the ability to weigh in and shape and influence the ultimate appropriation. But under the Constitution, that’s the power of the Congress not the executive branch.”
According to Wheeler, lawmakers who support F-22 production will seek to ensure that 20 additional Raptors make it into the FY ’10 budget.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also serves on the SASC. Collins said she was pleased to see the budget request added funding for an additional DDG-1000 and would support a boost to shipbuilding accounts.
“It looks pretty good. Obviously, I’d like to see more funding for shipbuilding. The president’s budget is a good start,” Collins said.