Obama Seeks to Delay Tanker, Cancel Bomber

By Josh Rogin,
CQ Staff

The White House has given the Pentagon guidance to delay procurement of aerial refueling tankers by five years and cancel plans for a new long-range bomber, according to three sources close to the discussions.

No final decisions have been made, and the recommendations are part of negotiations between the Office of Management and Budget and the Defense Department over possible budget trade-offs this year, the sources said. The guidance represents two of the offset options that OMB gave the Pentagon last month regarding the fiscal 2010 Defense budget request.

If the guidance survives the internal budget process, a huge protest will follow on Capitol Hill, where dozens of lawmakers are heavily invested in the battle over tanker procurement, which has raged for years.

Some Defense budget experts hailed the news as a step toward tighter fiscal discipline and a strong opening salvo in the battle to make hard choices over procurement programs as the military rebalances itself and budgets tighten.

“OMB is beginning to show itself as a breath of fresh air after decades of prostrate compliance with Pentagon wishes,” said Winslow Wheeler, head of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information.

(More here.)