The US Senate voted decisively on Tuesday to stop producing new F-22 stealth fighters, siding firmly with President Barack Obama in a high-stakes fight over the future of US air power.
Lawmakers debating a US$680 billion defense spending bill voted 58-40 to cut US$1.75 billion set aside to build seven more Raptors, drawing immediate praise from the White House.
“At a time when we’re fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, this would have been an inexcusable waste of money,” said Obama, whose aides have underlined that the Raptor has not seen action in Afghanistan or Iraq.
“I reject the notion that we have to waste billions of taxpayer dollars on outdated and unnecessary defense projects to keep this nation secure,” said the president, who had threatened to veto the bill if the monies were included.
The Senate vote came after the House of Representatives included the bill in its version of the legislation, meaning lawmakers could revive the program when they reconcile the rival versions in order to send the bill to Obama.
Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel lobbied senators to scrap the funding, trying to quiet concerns of lost jobs if the Lockheed Martin/Boeing-built program is frozen and underlining that the money could be better used elsewhere, Democratic aides said.
Gates had fought to cap production at 187 F-22s, meaning only four more would be built. But many Republicans balked at the administration’s plans.
The Air Force has also long disagreed with halting production, and just last year called for a fleet of 381 fighters.
Last year Gates sacked the service’s two top leaders officially over two major nuclear-related blunders, but his decision was also largely seen as having stemmed from their position on the F-22 program.
In a statement released through a Pentagon spokesman, Gates welcomed the Tuesday vote as “an important step” toward reining in defense spending.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese