If Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chair of the Senate Armed Services AirLand panel, has his way the 2007 defense budget will be $1.2 billion lighter in the Joint Strike Fighter account. In its markup of the 2007 defense authorization bill, the panel cited “a program delay” as its rationale for the cut. According to the Congressional newspaper The Hill, McCain proposes striking $870 million in 2007 procurement for the first five of USAF’s version of the F-35, which is slated to start rolling off the production line first, and another $85 million from 2008. The panel would also take $245 million in 2008 slated for the Marine Corps JSF. The House Armed Services Committee markup did not make similar cuts.
With a fresh directive from the president, the department could opt to repeat its unconventional—and potentially unlawful—move to pay troops using unused non-personnel appropriations.
