A bipartisan group of six Senators on March 26 sent a letter to President Obama urging him to preserve the next generation bomber (NGB) in the Fiscal 2010 defense budget. Despite protests to the contrary, there is strong sentiment that the NGB is on the Administration hit list among weapons cuts sure to come in the new budget. The Senators write that terminating the NGB “would do tremendous damage to our nation’s future ability to project power abroad.” They reminded the President that senior Administration officials have agreed the new bomber is “absolutely critical.” The Senators are: John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and David Vitter (R-La.)
Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, the director of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome program, warned that without the Defense Department’s $350 billion reconciliation request, the homeland missile defense effort is in dire straits.