The Senate today voted 58 – 40 to approve a Levin (D-MI) – McCain (R-AZ) amendment to eliminate the $1.75 billion the Senate Armed Services Committee added for the F-22 aircraft.
The vote was significant because if those supporting more aircraft had prevailed despite the fact that the plane has no utility in Iraq or Afghanistan, is egregiously expensive and is strenuously opposed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and threatened by a veto from the President, the vote would have been widely interpreted by the media as a crushing defeat for the Obama Administration.
The Administration is already facing great challenges over the still faltering economy and difficult bills dealing with the health care bill and climate change.
The vote was also significant because it provided an opportunity for the Defense Department and Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin to rev up their vote counting operation. They set up procedures to count noses, persuade the undecideds and win over those who started out supporting the F-22.
This vote counting operation, with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, will be vital when the Senate gets to later votes on a START follow-on treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Read the rest of my analysis and see how your Senators voted here.
