The Boeing tanker-lease controversy evidently no longer is a threat to confirmation of Michael Wynne as Air Force Secretary. That, at least, is the word from Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to Levin, Wynne appears likely to have clear sailing when he faces the panel, which is supposed to hold a hearing on his nomination today. The link between the tanker deal and Wynne was always a tenuous one, more smoke than substance, but some Senators had seized upon it as a club. Levin, one of the Senate’s most astute politicians, wryly told reporters at a private meeting on Wednesday, “Somehow, I’m under the impression that that’s no longer a problem.” Wynne would replace acting SECAF Pete Geren.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
