Spotlight: Congressional Aircraft

DoD

Boeing 757 (C-32A)

It was one spending proposal that never got off the ground. Almost as quickly as the U.S. House of Representatives could add $330 million to the budget to bolster the government's luxury-jet fleet, public outcry prompted House leaders to strip the four proposed new aircraft from next year's defense-spending bill.

The firestorm of criticism--"Talk about the wrong message at the wrong time," sniped Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill--seemed to take House leaders by surprise, even following last year's howls of outrage after U.S. auto executives flew into Washington on private jets to seek government bailouts. Supporters of the proposal argued that the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!