Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Wednesday she’s working with committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on a plan to save the A-10 in the Senate’s version of the authorization bill without using overseas contingency operations (OCO) funding.
Multiple news outlets reported Tuesday that Levin was critical of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) using OCO, or wartime, funding to offset saving the A-10s, which the Air Force wants to retire to save money. Levin reportedly called the plan not “legitimate.” In its version of the authorization bill, HASC approved authorizing $635 million in OCO funding to maintain, operate and upgrade the A-10 fleet.
“We are working with him to come up with a ‘pay-for’ that does not use OCO, but says within the current budget caps,” Ayotte said Wednesday during a Capitol Hill press conference, though she didn’t offer specifics.
Ayotte said if a plan to save the A-10 was not in the senate’s version of the authorization bill, she’d offer an amendment. Levin spokeswoman Tara Andringa said Wednesday the senator supports preserving the A-10, but to accomplish that, the committee must find a realistic way to pay for it.
SASC subcommittees mark their versions of the FY ’15 authorization bill May 20 while the full committee does its part May 21.