Senate Republicans on Thursday rebuffed a Democratic-led effort to block funding for President Donald Trump to convert a gifted Qatari jetliner into Air Force One.
The move came as the chamber plowed through amendments to its annual defense policy bill, which is expected to pass Thursday evening.
The Senate voted down, 46-50, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to block funding to procure or modify a foreign aircraft for use as a presidential plane.
Jet Controversy
The proposal takes aim at Trump’s controversial decision this spring to accept a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One.
The decision has caused heartburn among both parties on Capitol Hill over its ethical implications, legality, security concerns and potential costs.
The vote is the second time the Senate has weighed in against blocking the plane’s conversion. Senators rejected a similar push as part of Republicans’ party-line megabill.
GOP pushback
“Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud and abuse,” Schumer said on the floor. “Spending even a penny of taxpayer dollars on retrofitting this luxury [jet] is about as wasteful as it gets.”
Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces panel, countered that Schumer’s amendment would have “significant negative effects” on the U.S. nuclear arsenal as written.
The amendment’s language blocking funding for foreign aircraft, she said, would unintentionally restrict spending for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, a new fleet of nuclear command and control aircraft meant to succeed the current E-4 “Doomsday Plane.” The contractor for the program, Sierra Nevada, purchased planes from Korean Air as part of the effort.
Budget battle
Retrofitting the Qatari plane is likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, with some estimates putting the costs at upwards of $1 billion to strip the plane down and install secure communications and other protective measures so it can carry the U.S. president.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink in June told lawmakers the transformation will likely cost less than $400 million. He also told Congress the service would fund the conversion by redirecting some money from the troubled Sentinel nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile program.
Security ties
Trump accepted the plane shortly after visiting Qatar, one of three Arab nations he visited in the first major foreign trip of his second term.
Trump last week signed an executive order vowing to defend Qatar in the event of an attack from another country, a move that came after another ally, Israel, launched a strike against Hamas leaders in the the Qatari capital of Doha.
Lead Art: A model of the new Air Force One design sits on a table as President