The Office of Management and Budget on July 30 sent a three-page Statement of Administration Policy to Congress, taking exception to the “costly earmarks” and “other objectionable provisions” of the 2009 Military Construction and VA spending bill. House appropriators and their Senate counterparts have proposed increasing spending by about $4 billion over the President’s request. According to the policy statement, the President’s “responsible plan” should stand. However, if Congress insists on more, it must provide offsetting reductions in other spending bills. Otherwise, it said, “the President will veto any of the other bills that exceed his request until Congress demonstrates a path to reach the President’s topline.”
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…