Deborah Lee James: Air Force to Get ’70-75 Percent’ Of Budget Request Through Congress

[unhappycamper]

http://www.executivegov.com/2014/09/deborah-lee-james-air-force-to-get-70-75-percent-of-budget-request-through-congress/

Deborah Lee James: Air Force to Get ’70-75 Percent’ Of Budget Request Through Congress
Anna Forrester · Sep 15th, 2014

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James expects to be able to work with Congress on the service’s two-year spending picture because of what she calls “improved” communications with lawmakers, Defense News reported Sunday.

“When you look at our total plan that we’ve put before the Congress, even though there are key areas of disagreement … we will probably get about 70 [or] 75 percent of our initiatives that we have put forward,” James told the publication.

Becky Iannotta reports that a majority of Congress supports for the Air Force’s programs on the F-35, KC-46 and long-range strike bomber and many lawmakers also oppose the retirement of the A-10 and U-2 aircraft fleets.

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Iannotta writes that James and her colleagues have continued to push for Congress to lift the sequestration to avoid additional personnel cuts in the military and have also been communicating these changes with airmen.