House leaders unveiled a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill early Wednesday morning that provides additional military resources and denies visa waiver status to anyone who has traveled to terrorist hotspots, including Iraq and Syria, over the last five years, according to a summary of the 2,009-page document. For the Air Force, the omnibus spending bill provides $15.7 billion in aircraft procurement, $2.9 billion in missile procurement, and $1.7 billion for ammunition procurement in the base budget. “The President’s team is still reviewing the text of the omnibus, but it appears to meet the priorities the President outlined first at the beginning of this year, and later in the budget framework that the Democrats and Republicans agreed on two months ago, which bolsters our security, grows our economy, and reflects our values,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman told The Hill in a statement. The House passed a short-term measure on Wednesday that avoids a government shutdown and gives Congress until Dec. 22 to approve the omnibus. The House is expected to vote on the spending bill Friday.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
