The Senate Armed Service Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act would make it illegal to spend any Fiscal 2017 money for the B-21 engineering and manufacturing development program until the Air Force tells defense committees the amount of the contract award. The bill also reduces the authorized amount to spend on the B-21 by $302 million because of a “lower than expected” contract award value, and creates program baseline and cost control thresholds, with required quarterly performance reports, according to a SASC summary of the legislation. Seven senators, including SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), voted against changing the provision from requiring public disclosure of the EMD contract award value to requiring defense committee disclosure, according to a document obtained by Politico Pro detailing the committee’s roll call votes in the closed markup.
Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year, according to new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
