'You Can't Tell Us Where... The Funding Is?': Jeanne Shaheen & Air Force Sec Spar Over Qatari Jet

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During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sparred with Air Force Secretary Troy Meink over a Boeing 747 jet that was gifted to President Trump by Qatar.

Transcript

00:00Senator Sheehan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all for being here. Let me start by

00:05adding my congratulations to Senator Capitose and others for the excellent work of the pilots who

00:12conducted the operation over the weekend. I think we were all very impressed also with General

00:17Kane's explanation of what happened. I would like to follow up, though, on Senator Murphy's

00:23questions about the Qatari gift to use as Air Force One because it's been reported that the

00:30plane is not only going to have to be limited to domestic travel because of the security concerns

00:36about retrofitting, but also that it's going to require a fighter escort because it's going to

00:42lack the security capabilities that the Air Force One program has built into it. You spoke to the

00:52additional costs to retrofit. So can you talk about what we are not going to do because

00:59we are going to be incurring those costs for retrofitting? What account is that going to

01:06come out of, and what are we not going to be able to do because of those additional costs?

01:14Senator, I guess, you know, with the movement of money around, I'm not sure that I could say

01:18exactly what we're not going to be able to do. We refaced some activities based on fact of life

01:25to free up resources to do that. I would say that we'd be happy to discuss in more detail on what the

01:33modifications are and what are the operational environments and how we would operate the aircraft

01:40in a different environment. But what I'd also say is that even today, and regardless of the airplane,

01:45we have to operate it differently based on the threat environment that even the current or any

01:51of the future aircraft will go into. Again, can't talk to in detail about that, but that is always

01:56a consideration. You can't, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you can't tell us where you think the funding's

02:01going to come from? What account? Where, where are we going to, if it's going to cost 400 million to a

02:07billion, where are we going to take that money from? Senator, in the, in the, in the, the, the reallocation

02:16of resources, there were dollars that were moved from the Sentinel program that were excess to need

02:24in 24, and that's what was used to fund the program. And we will ensure that those resources are there.

02:31Very clear, the Sentinel program is fully funded all the resources it needs to execute as quickly as

02:37possible. Just with the numricurity and some of the restructuring and termination liability, going to

02:42the details, but, but that money was early to need, and that was what was used to, to, to, to, to fund this,

02:50this effort. So is it going to further delay the Sentinel program? Absolutely not, Senator. Absolutely not.

02:56Well, I'm, I'm going to look, when we get further budget detail, which we're still waiting on, I'm going to

03:01look with great deal of interest on exactly where the funding is going to come from, because I think

03:07there are a lot, I share Senator Murphy's concerns that there are a lot of unanswered questions, both

03:11in terms of budgetary, compact, capability of this aircraft, and also ethical concerns about its

03:19acceptance, which is not an issue for you. I appreciate. Senator Murray talked about the KC-46s,

03:29and we're very proud that the 157th refueling wing in New Hampshire has the, is the first guard base

03:36to get the KC-46, but have been continually concerned about the delays in getting the remote vision system

03:46up and operating. And I understand it slipped again to, you mentioned, I think, General Alvin,

03:53that it's going to now be in late 2027. And my understanding, we've been following this for over

04:0010 years now, that it was supposed to have been delivered in 2025. So why is it, why has it slipped

04:08again? And what do we need to do to ensure that it actually gets delivered on that date?

04:12Well, the reason, and I had to, I had several conversations with Mr. Steve Parker, the CEO,

04:19to ensure that I understand the challenges. And the challenges are largely because of

04:24sort of software stability, and some of the other pieces having to do with the actual system itself.

04:30So it is a new system that this next iteration of it is that much better, and it's a much better

04:37technology, but they're having sort of new program issues with it. I am, I meet him quarterly,

04:43and I discussed that with Mr. Parker. And so we're staying on that, and he is 100% committed to it.

04:48And so the fourth quarter of 27 would actually be this fall, this summer fall. So he, it is very

04:55much on his mind, the summer fall of 27 is with the fiscal year 27. So it's a little bit earlier than

05:00the end of calendar year 27, is what I'm being told sometime between July and September of 27.

05:05So, but it's still next year. It is, it is. So, so we continue to work with him on that. And again,

05:12I don't want to make it sound like everything's fine, but we are fully operating that aircraft.

05:17Oh, and I'm very aware. Yes, ma'am, you know, operational. And I think it's doing a great job. And

05:23I know that air refueling was a critical piece of the mission over the weekend. But again, I think

05:30it's, it speaks to the challenge, the budgetary challenges that the chairman mentioned at the

05:36outset, when what was supposed to have been delivered winds up not getting delivered for

05:43another five, six, seven, eight years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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