President Obama came out swinging yesterday, issuing the first veto threat of his presidency to tackle a congressional sacred cow —wasteful weapons spending.

The administration released a Statement of Administration Policy yesterday stating that the president would veto the FY 2010 Defense Authorization Act if Congress included funding for two wasteful programs the Pentagon targeted for elimination: The F-22 Raptor fighter jet and the alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The House Armed Services Committee added $369 million as a small down payment for an additional 12 F-22s to the bill and $603 million for development and procurement of the alternative engine, while their counterparts in the Senate reportedly added $1.75 billion to fully fund seven new planes plus $439 million for the engine. 

TCS has a long history opposing the F-22 , the most expensive fighter jet ever produced, as a cold war era relic that was designed to take on the planes that the Soviets were going to build. Eventually, even the Secretary and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force agreed the program must end at 187 aircraft and $350 million per copy. Defense Secretary Gates has honed in on the Joint Strike Fighter as the Pentagon’s main fighter priority. But even in that program, Congress has gone against DOD’s wishes, adding nearly $1 billion over the past three appropriations cycles to keep the development of an alternate engine by GE/Rolls Royce in Ohio alive. The administration has pointed out that “expenditures on a second engine are unnecessary and impede the progress of the overall JSF program.” The SAP states that if the final bill presented to thePresident contains provisions to increase the number of F-22s beyond the Pentagon’s requirements or “seriously disrupt the F-35 program,” the “President’s senior advisors would recommend a veto.” 

We have long argued that the veto pen is a valuable budget accountability tool in the President’s arsenal. Unfortunately, it seemed it was lost during the first six years of the Bush Administration . We’re glad to see President Obama willing to provide a check and balance against a Congress controlled by his own party.

TCS President Ms. Ryan Alexander observed: “We applaud the President for standing up to parochial interests on Capitol Hill with a veto threat. He has drawn a line in the sand to let them know he is serious about his defense budget cuts. More F-22s isn’t about making the country more secure: It’s about political patronage. With the country staring a staggering budget deficit in the face, we have to make hard choices about where to spend every dime. Congress should take this opportunity to review the bill and remove wasteful spending on unnecessary weapon systems.”