White House Threatens to Veto $636B Defense Spending Bill Over F-22 Funding

WASHINGTON -- The White House again threatened Tuesday to veto $636 billion spending bill for the Defense Department that is making its way to a vote in the House, citing funding for F-22 fighters and a much-criticized replacement presidential helicopter. President Obama wants to terminate both programs.

The Senate already voted to delete the F-22 program from the defense spending bill, but the money remains in the measure that is slated to come to the House floor Wednesday. The White House also objected to plans by lawmakers to continue to fund an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but did not seem to explicitly threaten a veto over the $560 million provision.

The veto threats come as the White House and its Democratic allies in control of Congress wrestle over his demands to shut down weapons programs and other Pentagon procurement.

The administration is carrying the day on ceasing production of additional F-22s after a decisive vote in the Senate last week during debate on a defense policy bill. It also won a big Senate vote against production of a second engine for alternative engines for the next-generation F-35 fighter that are being built by the General Electric Company and Rolls Royce.

The new presidential helicopter program -- a project beset by poor planning and loose Pentagon oversight -- is way over budget and the White House strongly opposes $400 million in the House measure that is a down payment toward finishing five of the troubled aircraft, which would be assembled at an upstate New York Lockheed Martin Corp., factory.

The White House says finishing the five helicopters would cost more than $2 billion more.

Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have most strongly staked out positions against continuing the F-22 program, which is way over budget and which has been criticized for being ill-suited for 21st century wars. It is an air-to-air dogfighter poorly-equipped to take on ground targets and has not flown over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat and chief author of the House defense spending measure, has already signaled that he will have to pull the $369 million for the planes from the bill or significantly pare it back.

The three programs are the highest-profile in an ongoing campaign by Gates to change the way the Pentagon does business. In his sights are unnecessary or financially troubled weapons that siphon money away from the troops and gear required for irregular wars now being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The defense committees of Congress have been reluctant to go along, but the administration is reaching out to Democratic loyalists to win floor votes.