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.”
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…