Gates Backs Omnibus Bill, Despite Opposition To $450 Million Earmark

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday that he favored the passage of the omnibus spending bill currently facing the Senate, despite the inclusion of a $450 million earmark for the production of a second engine for the F-35 JSF aircraft, a project Gates has been highly critical of.

“I consider the second engine the poster child of earmarks, but what I have to look at is the alternative to the omnibus,” Gates said from the White House briefing room.

The Secretary explained that in the absence of an omnibus bill, the Pentagon would receive funding through a year-long resolution, a move that would tighten the Defense Department’s budget and limit the flexibility through which they use their funds.

“A year-long continuing resolution … for the Department of Defense is the worst of all possible worlds,” Gates added.

Earlier this year, Gates told reporters that he would urge President Obama to veto legislation that contained funding for the second engine.