If Principi holds any high cards, he’ll have to play’em fast. The BRAC panel’s final deliberations start Wednesday and supposedly end Friday. Their final recommendation must go to President Bush by Sept. 8, and it has to go to the printer.
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.


