Air Force nominee: Cuts are grounding planes, hurting morale

President Obama’s nominee to be the next top general in the Air Force told Congress Thursday that budget limits brought on by sequestration have drastically cut the flying hours of pilots who are not in war zones, and that as a result, morale is suffering.

“When we were sequestered in 2015, we grounded 13 fighter squadrons that stopped flying,” Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said at his Senate confirmation hearing. “We’re still recovering from that effort and if we’re sequestered again it will be even worse.”