The House cut $450 million for a second engine for the F-35 on Wednesday. House scuttles second fighter engine

The House on Wednesday cut $450 million for a second, alternate engine made by General Electric for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after an epic lobbying battle.

The cut was victory for the Obama administration, which like the last Bush administration, sought to scuttle the engine. And it was a loss for Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, which has many of the GE engine jobs.


The vote was also seen as a test for how the influx of new budget-minded Republicans would behave, and whether an alliance with Democrats could help at long last defeat the engine.

The tally on the amendment to strip the engine funds from the continuing spending resolution for this fiscal 2011 year was 233-198. The House still must approve the CR, which it is expected to do yet this week, and send it onto the Senate for consideration.

While no single vote can ever be counted on to doom a Pentagon weapons program, Wednesday’s House action appears to be pivotal, since the Senate for the last two years has allowed the House to take the lead on the engine.

Still, GE noted that Congress has continued to support its engine for the last 15 years and pledged to move ahead. “We will continue to press the case for competition as the FY11 budget is finalized and as the FY12 budget debate continues,” said GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy said in a statement.

The GE engine program has enjoyed congressional support for years, riding on a web of parochial ties and a strong endorsement from the House Armed Services Committee, which firmly believes that the $100 billion engine program is so large the Pentagon needs a competitor to Pratt and Whitney to control cost and quality.

The Pentagon has rejected that argument since the last Bush administration, trying repeatedly to end funding for the engine. And this time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the full force of his office and reputation, making ending the engine in this fiscal year a major feature of his budget presentation for the new 2012 fiscal year budget and in some circles a “manhood” issue.

Gates, who was on Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify before the House Armed Services Committee, reiterated his opposition. And Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen weighed in as well, declaring flatly: “We cannot afford to buy the second engine.”

Afterward, Gates was cautiously optimistic, according to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. “He understands this afternoon’s vote is but one step, although a very important one, on the path to ensuring that we stop spending limited dollars on unwanted and unneeded defense programs.”

With the amped up administration message, opponents of the engine were hopeful they had an edge by convincing freshmen elected on deficit-reduction platforms that the second engine was wasteful. They were hopeful last May, too, but those who wanted two engines were able to include funding for it in the House version of the defense authorization bill.

And establishment Republicans were growing skittish that if freshmen were swayed by that message, it could upend conventional wisdom about how other Republicans vote on defense matters. Since the tea party is by no means monolithic, they could start splitting off, aligning with the anti-war left in ways with real consequences.

“All the sudden you don’t have the votes, when you thought you had the votes,” according to a congressional aide.

And that’s exactly what the engine opponents counted on, with the bill’s bipartisan co-sponsors bringing in new votes from both sides of the aisle.

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), who sponsored the amendment to strip the funds was looking for about 30 of the freshmen, along with some progressive Democrats brought in by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

Larson told POLITICO he had worked to flip liberal Democrats who may have in the past supported funding for two engines.

Progressives, Larson said, are wondering: “If we can’t cut here, where can we?”

That message enabled him to bring along other Democrats including Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Anthony Weiner of New York.

After the vote, Larson pointed out that the left-right alliance wasn’t just on Capitol Hill. Even Rachel Maddow and Grover Norquist had aligned against the engine, he said.

But bringing along new members did take work. Rooney said he spoke to all 87 freshmen that were “in play” on the issue. “It was a huge uphill battle,” he said, adding that this year provided the best chance to kill the engine.

The natural inclination of first-year lawmakers was to oppose the second engine, he said. But it was difficult, particularly for members of the Armed Services Committee, who heard all the arguments for funding two engines not just from lobbyists but from leadership and more senior members on the committee.

“The sooner we can get this vote, I think the natural instincts will allow us to prevail,” Rooney said before the vote. “It’ll be close, but I think we’ve effectively with the election turned the tide with the numbers we need.”

After the vote, Rooney praised Boehner and Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee for their respectful disagreement on the issue.

But asked how deeply Boehner had been fighting to keep the engine, Rooney said he couldn’t speak for the speaker.

“I’ve been trying to stay away from him,” Rooney said.

Rooney brought in two key GOP freshmen from the Armed Services Committee – Reps. Tim Griffin of Arkansas and Allen West of Florida.

West, who served for 22 years in the Army, said he still has enough friends in uniform that he’s able to cut through the spin of lobbyists and remained adamant that he wouldn’t be swayed by how others in his party voted.

“I have to be able to make my own assessments,” West told POLITICO. “I’m not going to just be following along with what’s previously been done. I think that’s something people can respect about me.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Arkansas Rep. Tim Griffin.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Alicia Lozano @ 02/16/2011 08:19 PM CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Arkansas Rep. Tim Griffin.