The Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee marked up the FY2010 DOD appropriations bill today. Full committee markup is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30 (see our calendar). In total, the subcommittee recommended $636.3 billion, which is $3.9 billion less than requested.

Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who chairs both the full committee and the defense subcommittee, made clear in his opening statement the strong reluctance that he and some of his colleagues share in agreeing with the President’s request to cancel certain programs. He used the F-117 stealth fighter and V-22 tiltrotor aircraft as examples of programs that prior administrations had wanted to terminate but that Congress continued to support, concluding that the congressional decisions had proved correct with the passage of time. He pointedly added:

“As we go forward today killing the F-22, the Presidential helicopter, the Combat Search and Rescue helicopter, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, we do so with the hope that today’s military and civilian leaders are more prescient than their predecessors in predicting our future needs.”

A summary of the bill is available on the committee’s website. The only mention of space programs is an addition of $50 million for R&D for next generation military satellite communications.

The House and Senate both return to work today from the August recess. While health care reform continues to hold the spotlight, the two chambers must also work on other issues, notably the FY2010 appropriations bills. The current fiscal year (FY2009) ends at midnight on September 30.

The House has passed all 12 FY2010 appropriations bills while the Senate has passed four. None of those four has emerged from conference committee yet. The Library of Congress’ Thomas site has a handy list showing the status of all the appropriations bills. The new fiscal year begins in three weeks. It is unlikely that all the bills will be enacted by then, so a Continuing Resolution (CR) can be expected to keep government agencies operating if their FY2010 appropriations bill is not yet in force.

The appropriations bill that includes NASA and NOAA (the Commerce, Justice, Science bill, H.R. 2847) is awaiting floor action in the Senate. The Department of Defense appropriations bill is scheduled for markup by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:30 am in 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

On Friday, the White House released a list of 10 administration officials who were granted ethics waivers. Among them is Ashton Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. (See our separate story about the waiver granted for NASA Administrator Bolden).

The May 11 memo granting the waiver, signed by Jeh Charles Johnson, the Designated Agency Ethics Official, is available here. The memo concludes that Dr. Carter’s work for Textron, Inc. involved providing “strategic” advice except for one instance of providing “specific business advice” on the Sensor Fuzed Weapon. DOD production funding of that weapon ended in FY2007, according to the memo. Consequently, Mr. Johnson waived restrictions on Dr. Carter’s dealings with Textron that might have been applicable under paragraph 2 of the Ethics Pledge, and went further by saying that “while a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts may question your impartiality in matters relating to Textron, I have made a separate determination, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. 2635.502, that the Government’s interest in your ability to participate in these matters, given the critical responsibilities associated with your position as DoD’s chief acquisition official, outweighs the concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of DoD’s programs and operations.”

Colin Clark reports in DODBuzz that some aerospace companies are being forced to sell subsidiaries in order to comply with the recently enacted Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act. Clark quotes sources as saying that Northrop Grumman’s pending sale of its TASC unit is a case in point. Some of those sources are highly critical of the strict interpretation of the law by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which designs, builds and operates the nation’s reconnaissance satellites. A follow-up story by Clark includes a link to the NRO memo and a response from a “government official” to the original story.

The original story included this criticism of NRO’s interpretation of the law.

“Intelligence community sources say the National Reconnaissance Office, builder and operator of the nation’s spy satellites, is interpreting the bill’s language very strictly. ‘The NRO is nuts!’ said one irate expert. They are being more draconian than anyone else and it is hard to understand why. While there are certainly instances where the same company should not be involved in helping with the requirements during a competitive acquisition they are going beyond this. In fact companies with 40 years worth of experience in a particular specialty are being thrown over the side in search of purity. This is not in the government’s best interest from either performance or cost perspectives. This is all part of the NRO destroying itself and paying attention to process.'”

The follow-up story included this response from an unnamed government official:

“‘I don’t care how many firewalls’ a company puts up to mitigate OCI, the fact remains TASC provides advice on the cost, schedule & performance of developmental contractors such as Northrop Grumman. It is particularly disconcerting when going through a source selection and we need the advice of a particular subject matter expert but we can’t turn to him because the company he works for is owned by one of the potential bidders,’ the official said. ‘This is a good thing and not a bad thing. The sky is not falling as a result and the other companies mentioned above will absorb contracts and employees as a result. There will be no perception of conflict and I don’t have to kick my subject matter experts out of the room during a crucial time in a review.'”

The final launch of a Delta II launch vehicle carrying a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite was successfully carried out today. Several more flights of the Delta II are scheduled through 2011 by United Launch Alliance, but this is the last to carry a GPS satellite. Newer GPS satellites need larger boosters in the Delta IV or Atlas V class.

The House began debate today on the FY2010 DOD appropriations bill (H.R. 3326). As in the Senate, much of the debate is expected to focus on the F-22. President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates want to end production at 187 fighters while some Members of Congress want to order additional planes. The President has vowed to veto any funding bill that contains funds for more than the 187 currently on order. Continued debate and a final vote on the bill is expected tomorrow (Thursday), but the House schedule is always subject to change.

The House passed the FY2010 Department of Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3326) today after adopting an amendment to remove language that would have required DOD to procure additional F-22s. The amendment was offered by defense appropriations subcommittee chair John Murtha (D-PA) who changed his mind about the additional planes after the Senate removed funds for them in its version of the FY2010 DOD authorization bill. President Obama had promised to veto any bill that included funds for more than the 187 planes now on order.

Colin Clark of DODBuzz reports that the Obering Panel that is developing recommendations on a new charter for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) will “not make dramatic changes to either NRO’s responsibilities or its relationships to other parts of the government.” Quoting an unnamed former government official who is familiar with the work of the panel, chaired by former Missile Defense Agency head Trey Obering, Clark’s report says the new charter will be a “modernizing document.” NRO is in charge of building the nation’s spy satellites and has come under sharp criticism in recent years.

The Senate passed the FY2010 authorization bill for the Department of Defense on July 23. One amendment that was adopted is a non-binding sense of Congress amendment offered by Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) that includes language that the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty being negotiated with Russia not put any limitations on missile defense or space capabilities (see pages S8002-8003 of the July 23 Congressional Record).

After passing the Senate bill (S. 1390), the Senate passed the House version of the bill (H.R. 2647) after striking all after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the text of S. 1390 as passed. The Senate then requested a conference with the House and appointed conferees. (For an explanation of some of these head-scratching congressional procedures, see our “What’s a Markup” fact sheet.)

The House Appropriations Committee completed markup of the FY2010 Department of Defense appropriations bill today, July 22, 2009. The Defense Subcommittee had approved an additional $369 million for advanced procurement for 12 more F-22 fighters than the President requested, and it is included in the version approved by the full committee. Subcommittee chairman John Murtha (D-PA) is being quoted by Congress Daily (subscription required) as saying that he is abandoning his fight for those funds, however, and will offer an amendment to remove the funding from the bill when it reaches the House floor. President Obama has threatened to veto any bill that contains funds for the F-22 beyond the 187 that are now being built. According to the committee’s press release, funding for national security space programs was increased or reduced as follows:

• $1.3 billion, $55.7 million above the request, for three Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles;
• $122 million, $55 million below the request, for development of the Space Based Space Surveillance System;
• $389.4 million, $97.4 million below the request, for development of the Global Positioning System III, operational control segment (OCX);
• $39 million, $104 million below the request, for the Third Generation Infrared Satellite;
• $1.8 billion, matching the request, for a fourth Advanced Extremely High
  Frequency communications satellite; and
• $626.7 million, $425 million above the request, for the Wideband Global System.