Senate and House appropriators have a bit of work reconciling the two versions of the 2008 defense spending bill. The full Senate still has to consider its appropriations measure—not expected to reach the floor before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30—while the House bill passed before the summer recess. The House would trim the President’s request by about $3.6 billion, and the Senate appropriators by $3.8 billion; they differ most on Navy and Army programs. And, Senate appropriators would spend slightly more for Guard and Reserve and health care funding than the House. The Senate version would keep Joint Cargo Aircraft funding with the Army, cutting Air Force JCA research and development. And, like their House counterparts, Senate appropriators would fund a second F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine. (Senate spending bill summary.)
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.