Congress’ $1.1 trillion spending package closed the book for the year on a pair of priorities that sparked fights between Georgia’s lawmakers and the Obama administration.
One, the A-10 fighter plane, was a decisive win for the Georgians. The fruits of the second, the Port of Savannah, will be better known in the coming months.
President Barack Obama’s budget request in March stiffed both. In a cost-saving measure, the A-10s, vital to Valdosta’s Moody Air Force Base, were to be retired in favor of the next-generation F-35 joint strike fighter.
The request also stalled the Savannah Port deepening, the state’s top economic development project, just when the Georgia delegation thought it had secured the legal language to start digging.
The A-10 fight went well beyond Georgia, as a slew of members questioned the wisdom of phasing out the aging platform when the F-35 is a long way from being ready.
“One of the key things is the fact that they’ve just deployed A-10s to Iraq,” said U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, a Tifton Republican who represents Valdosta and serves on the House Armed Services Committee. “If there was ever proof that they needed that platform for the missions that we’re in right now, that’s it.”
The spending bill included an extra $331 million to keep the A-10 flying, and an accompanying defense policy bill reversed its retirement.
Scott still voted against the spending bill because he would have preferred to keep government on autopilot into next year, when Republican majorities in both congressional chambers could, in theory, negotiate a better deal. He was one of just four Georgians in the House to say nay.
On the port, the Obama administration’s paltry request of $1.52 million was shifted from study to construction funds, and the bill admonished the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for slowing a project that has dragged for more than a decade: “The Administration’s persistence in treating this project as if it had not yet been approved as a new start is inexplicable, unjustifiable, and unnecessarily confusing.”
But everyone now agrees the work can get underway with state money, as Congress passed a long-delayed water resources bill and the Army Corps of Engineers signed a project partnership agreement with the Georgia Ports Authority.
The question now is will the federal government commit hundreds of millions of dollars — as promised. An answer comes when Obama submits his fiscal 2016 budget in the next few months.
“I had two great and extensive conversations with Shaun Donovan at OMB,” Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said of the new director of the White House budget office. “The ships are going to be sailing, let’s put it that way.”
On the hunt — for a job
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, the Athens Republican who is leaving Congress after losing a long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate, is known well in the Capitol as an avid big-game hunter whose trophies — including a full-sized bear and lion — crammed his office.
Since his May primary loss, Broun has put the same zeal into his job hunt. Other outgoing members are coy about possible plans, but Broun singled out specific places he wants to work in an interview this week. If they won’t take him, Broun said he will strike out on his own.
“I could possibly go on some board of director position if offered, a paid position on a corporate board,” Broun said. “I would entertain a leadership position in some organization that is out there today, and I’m just looking for whatever position is available.
“If an organization doesn’t offer me that opportunity, then I’ve begun the process of even starting my own — Restoring Liberty in America. If I could join an organization such as Americans for Prosperity or FreedomWorks or a tea party group in a leadership role, I could help them.”
Broun said he’s focused on making a living but he might run for office again in the future. A farewell note to constituents said he was leaving Congress “for now.”
Vote of the week
The U.S. House on Thursday passed a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through September, except for the Department of Homeland Security, which will see its funding expire in February.
Yes: U.S. Reps. John Barrow, D-Augusta; Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Doug Collins, R-Gainesville; Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta; Tom Graves, R-Ranger; Jack Kingston, R-Savannah; Tom Price, R-Roswell; David Scott, D-Atlanta; Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County; Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville.
No: U.S. Reps. Paul Broun, R-Athens; Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; John Lewis, D-Atlanta; Austin Scott, R-Tifton.
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