Obama wins vote on canceled engine

The Senate handed the Obama administration another victory on Thursday by voting to eliminate funding in the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill for a second engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter that the White House considers wasteful and unnecessary.

On a voice vote, the Senate approved an amendment from Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., that stripped $438.9 million for an alternate engine for the plane.

The action reversed years of strong support in the Senate for the second engine program and marked another significant endorsement of the administration's desire to rein in defense spending and cut funding for programs officials believe have little or no military value. On Tuesday, the Senate voted to uphold President Obama's decision to end the F-22 program.

Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney builds the primary engine for the fighter, while General Electric and British firm Rolls-Royce have been active in developing the backup engine.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and other supporters of the alternate engine program claimed competition between engine makers could ultimately reduce costs by as much as 20 percent, while improving reliability.

But Lieberman and Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., argued that the additional development, operational and sustainment costs incurred by work on a second engine far outweigh any benefits derived from the competition.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates weighed in on the issue in a letter on Tuesday to Lieberman stating that the risks associated with a single engine provider "are manageable as evidenced by the performance of the F-22 and F/A-18E/F, both Air Force and Navy programs supplied by a single engine provider."

Gates added that continuing the second engine "will likely impede the progress of the overall F-35 program" and he reiterated the White House's threat to veto the bill if it would "seriously disrupt" the F-35 program.

Former President George W. Bush made similar arguments in repeated attempts to terminate development of an alternate engine, only to be rebuffed by Congress.

But on Thursday, several lawmakers raised concerns about raiding Marine Corps helicopter accounts and Air Force and Navy F-35 accounts to pay for the alternate engine.

Shortly before the voice vote on the amendment, senators rejected an amendment from Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., that would have tapped Air Force HC-130J and MC-130J aircraft accounts instead for the budgetary offsets. The vote was 59-38.

Thursday's Senate action sets up a likely conference battle with the House, whose version of the authorization measure includes $603 million for the alternate engine program.