Congress - pass $1.3T defense omnibus & avoid shutdown

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by spazsinbad » 22 Mar 2018, 15:15

I give up trying to understand US Budgets - people sign stuff and it means nothing - don't bother explaining - I don't care.
Congress races to pass $1.3T defense-friendly omnibus and avoid shutdown
22 Mar 2018 Joe Gould

"WASHINGTON — The sweeping $1.3 trillion spending bill that congressional leaders unveiled Wednesday includes $654.6 billion for the Pentagon. But it’s unclear whether Congress can pass the proposal without shutting down the government.

Lawmakers touted the bill as providing the biggest year-over-year increase in defense funding in 15 years. Pentagon appropriations include $589.5 billion in the base budget and $65.2 billion in the overseas contingency operations (OCO) budget — an increase of $61.1 billion over the 2017 enacted level, when combined with other previously enacted funding.

The bill surpasses President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 request for the Pentagon by $15.5 billion....

...Republican leaders in the House and Senate say the legislation will come to a vote in both chambers before the end of the week. To avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers have to sprint to pass the bill before the latest stopgap funding measure runs out at at 11:59 p.m. Friday....

...For aviation, there is $10.2 billion for 90 F-35 aircraft; $1.8 billion for 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft...."

Source: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/20 ... -shutdown/

The omnibus spending bill would add an extra 143 aircraft for the military
22 Mar 2018 Valerie Insinna

"WASHINGTON — Congress seems to have come to an agreement on spending for fiscal year 2018, and military aircraft procurement is slated to receive a major bump, funding an additional 143 aircraft above the services’ requests. That’s great news for major defense primes like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, both of which stand to make billions more from the additional sales.

A caveat before diving in: Although the omnibus language marks a big step forward after months of stymied negotiations and continuing resolutions, the bill still hasn’t been passed by Congress yet. The House and Senate must pass either a spending bill or CR before the end of this Friday, and it’s possible that various lawmakers could seek to obstruct the bill.

Here’s how the major aviation accounts fared:

F-35 joint strike fighter
Unsurprisingly, it was a good year for Lockheed Martin’s F-35. Congress added $2.9 billion for an additional 20 joint strike fighters, which would put total FY18 procurement at 90 planes.

If the spending bill is passed, the Navy and Marine Corps will get not only the number of joint strike fighters requested in the budget, but also the ones detailed in their “unfunded requirements lists” sent every year to Congress. For the Navy, that’s eight F-35C carrier takeoff and landing variants. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps would get 24 F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variants and two F-35Cs.

The Air Force will get 56 F-35A models — just four short of its unfunded requirement. [34+56=90]

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
In its FY18 budget request, the Navy requested 14 new Super Hornet aircraft. Lawmakers, who have long been supportive of the program, added 10 aircraft on top of that, funding a total of 24 new F/A-18E/Fs...."

Source: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/03 ... -military/


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by spazsinbad » 23 Mar 2018, 05:04

Pentagon budget 2018: Spending bill provides 20 additional F-35 aircraft
22 Mar 2018 Pat Host

"Key Points
•The FY 2018 spending bill provides an additional 20 F-35s that the Pentagon requested
•The legislation is part of a wide-ranging ramp up of US defence spending

The US fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018) spending bill released late 21 March provides the Pentagon with 20 additional Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft than it requested.

The Defense Department requested 46 A-model conventional variants, 20 B-model short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variants, and 4 C-model aircraft carrier variants (CV). The bill provides 10 additional F-35As, 2 more F-35Bs, and 4 extra F-35Cs. The total budget lines are USD5.7 billion for the F-35A, 26% more than the USD4.5 billion requested; USD3.1 billion for the F-35B, 29% more than the USD2.4 billion requested; and USD1.4 billion for the F-35C, 133% more than the USD582 million requested...."

Source: http://www.janes.com/article/78797/pent ... 5-aircraft


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by white_lightning35 » 23 Mar 2018, 06:07

Ahhh... I love the smell of insurmountable mountains of debt in the morning.


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by KamenRiderBlade » 23 Mar 2018, 08:06

Nothing that a super high income tax on the rich can't fix over a long period of time.


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by spazsinbad » 23 Mar 2018, 08:14

So 'one down with two more to go'?
US House passes Pentagon-boosting omnibus as shutdown looms
23 Mar 2018 Joe Gould

"WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House passed a sweeping $1.3 trillion spending bill, with $700 billion for defense, in a race to move the massive bill through Congress and avoid a government shutdown. The vote was 256-167 for the 2,232-page spending package that congressional leaders released Wednesday evening. The White House has said President Donald Trump will sign the bill, but the Senate must pass it before 11:59 p.m. Friday or government funding will lapse....

...The Senate could take up the bill as soon as Thursday, though it’s unclear whether Sen. Rand Paul, the most likely senator to force a temporary government shutdown, will do so...."

Source: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/20 ... own-looms/


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by spazsinbad » 23 Mar 2018, 09:14

Two down - ONE to go....
Senate passes $1.3tn budget bill as Republican leaders rush to avert shutdown
23 Mar 2018 Lauren Gambino and Ben Jacobs in Washington

"The US Senate has approved a sweeping $1.3tn spending bill just hours after the 2,232-page text was released to lawmakers, as Republican leaders rushed to avert a third government shutdown in as many months.

The bill will now be sent to president Donald Trump for enacting into law and will mean Washington avoids a government shutdown at midnight on Friday when existing funds are set to expire. The Senate voted 65-32 to pass the bill.

The bill, which passed the House 256-167 on Thursday, funds government agencies through September, the end of the fiscal year...

...Speaking at the White House, Mick Mulvaney, the head of Office of Management and Budget, insisted Trump supported the bill. “Is the president going to sign the bill? The answer is yes,” Mulvaney told reporters. He acknowledged that the omnibus was not ideal and contained compromises..."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... epublicans


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by spazsinbad » 23 Mar 2018, 11:49

IF WE FOLLOW THE MONEY and not anything else - it all makes sense eventually - so here is some more (please).
FY 2018 Omnibus Bill Boosts Shipbuilding $3.3B Over Pentagon Request; Expands F-35, Super Hornet Buys
22 Mar 2018 Sam LaGrone

"...In aviation, the bill includes $19.9 billion for procurement of new aircraft – $5 billion more than the Navy requested for FY 2018, according to the bill.

Highlights in aviation expenditures:
• $10.2 billion for 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II JSF aircraft across the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps

• $1.8 billion for 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft...

...According to a Senate summary of the bill, the agreement adds six Navy-variant Lockheed Martin F-35C JSFs to the Navy’s ask, for a total of ten, and adds four Marine F-35Bs, bringing the total to 24....

... adds ten Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters over the service’s request of 14, according to a House summary of the bill....

...The massive $1.3-trillion spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday and is headed to the Senate. The bill pumps an additional $15.5 billion over the administration’s ask for the Defense Department, bringing the total to $654.6 billion. President Trump must sign the bill by midnight Friday to avert another government shutdown."

JPG: https://news.usni.org/wp-content/upload ... us_jpg.jpg

Source: https://news.usni.org/2018/03/22/fy-201 ... ornet-buys
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by blindpilot » 23 Mar 2018, 19:30

spazsinbad wrote:I give up trying to understand US Budgets - people sign stuff and it means nothing - don't bother explaining - I don't care.


For furrinners, who are trying to follow this, .. with Trump signing the spending bill ... it means .. the US is
Really, really, really, really placing the orders as summarized.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... GY15X?il=0

It also means that with the pork barrel hostage money thrown into the pot ....
<sarc on .. hyperbole (?? I think??) ..sort of>
that my great grandson, who is just starting to talk, is having difficulty understanding why he has to go to work when he turns 2 years old, and he won't get a paycheck for that work, until and paid only when he turns 18 .. or maybe at least 21 if things go well. I will have to divert all my Social Security checks back to my kids and grandkids, and we will move into one house for efficiency. I think we'll be ok, having chickens and goats and all, but some city dwellers ... well.. it could get bad. <sarc off ... except the off switch isn't working>

But it's official the money is being spent. The orders are placed.
Welcome to the US budget process.

FWIW,
BP


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by spazsinbad » 23 Mar 2018, 23:37

As per 'BP' link we all - we all who care - can breathe again until October when it all starts agin - Hatfields & McCoys!
Trump signs budget deal after raising government shutdown threat
22 Mar 2018 Steve Holland, Richard Cowan

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed Congress’ newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill on Friday, ending several hours of confusion spurred by a tweeted veto threat that raised the specter of a government shutdown....

...White House and Capitol Hill aides had been left scrambling earlier in the day after Trump criticized the six-month spending bill, despite prior assurances from the administration that he would sign it ahead of a looming midnight deadline...."

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... GY15X?il=0


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by SpudmanWP » 24 Mar 2018, 02:09

The Fiscal year ends in September, so yeah, six months. Remember that they have been operating on "Continuing Resolutions" for the 1st 6 months of the year.
"The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."


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by spazsinbad » 24 Mar 2018, 21:34

Another look at the numbers just online.... Note the FTN with six (count 'em) SIX additional F-35Cs - that'll LURN 'EM.
Congress appropriates a 28% increase in funding for new aircraft
24 Mar 2018 Garrett Reim

"President Donald Trump signed into law on 23 March a spending bill that adds 143 aircraft, worth $9.5 billion, to what was already requested by the Department of Defence, including 20 additional F-35 Lightning II fighters, 10 F/A-18 Super Hornets, and three KC-46A tanker aircraft.

The defence spending was part of a $1.3 trillion budget that was six months overdue and only funds the government until 30 September. The Pentagon’s budget was boosted by $61 billion over last year to $700 billion. Congress appropriated $44 billion to aircraft procurement, 27.5 percent above what was requested by the Department of Defence.

The largest pile of money will be set aside to buy 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighters, worth $10.2 billion in total. Some $2.9 billion of that total was not requested by the Department of Defence, but will fund 10 additional conventional take-off, six carrier variant and four vertical take-off F-35 Lightning II fighters, as well as additional tooling and spare engines, for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Congress also topped off the military’s wish list with 10 more Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets for the Navy, worth $739 million. In all, the Navy is buying 24 Super Hornets for a sum of $1.8 billion in fiscal 2018...." [Does this mean that the target cost for an F-35A in future will be equal or less than a SHORNET (adjusted for inflation/upgrades etc.)?]

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... or-447039/


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by optimist » 24 Mar 2018, 23:02

[Does this mean that the target cost for an F-35A in future will be equal or less than a SHORNET (adjusted for inflation/upgrades etc.)?]

Yes and when you add the pods, that 73m quickly grows to be above the f-35. They should of gone through canada to buy them, we were told they only pay $55m for the super. Canada would have made some money on the deal :roll:
Europe's fighters been decided. Not a Eurocanard, it's the F-35 (or insert derogatory term) Count the European countries with it.


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by spazsinbad » 25 Mar 2018, 21:04

AAaaahhhh the same old same old Budget Control Act (BCA) returns soon like....
Defense Hawks Soak Up Defense Spending Win. Now What?
22 Mar 2018 Caroline Houck

"...A two-year spending deal agreed to earlier this year gives the Pentagon a slight spending increase in fiscal 2019. The Trump administration requested $716 billion for defense next year. The Budget Control Act’s spending levels would return in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, when the Trump administration’s long-term Pentagon budget projections increase at the rate of inflation.

“The odds are, this is the largest the defense budget is going to be for, probably, about the next decade,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said at a March 20 hearing. “We have to make sure that we spend this money wisely and we also spend it in a way that doesn’t lock us into long-term obligations that can’t be met given the fiscal constraints that are coming.”

Source: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018 ... at/146899/


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by mixelflick » 26 Mar 2018, 13:25

Instead of 90 F-35's and 24 F/A-18's, I'd much rather have seen.... 114 F-35's, including 24 sweet C models :)



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