Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late Thursday announced that he was dropping his plans to push a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending package for Fiscal 2011 through the Senate that included $667.7 billion in appropriations for the Defense Department. Reid’s move came after Republican Senators withdrew their support for the bill. Instead, Reid said he’d focus for the remainder of the lame-duck session on winning approval for another continuing resolution to keep the flow of money going to DOD and additional federal government agencies in this fiscal year. Reid’s move came despite appeals this week by Defense Secretary Robert Gates for Congress to approve the omnibus legislation instead of settling on a continuing resolution. For more, see The Worst of All Possible Worlds.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.