Sen. John McCain blasted newly confirmed Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson Tuesday during one of her first appearances on Capitol Hill over a $2 billion bomber request.
McCain told Wilson he has “never seen anything like” the secrecy around the service’s budget request and spending on the B-21 stealth bomber, to be built by Northrop Grumman.
The Air Force has rightly kept development of the new bomber and its capabilities classified, but other details such as spending and costs should be made public, said McCain, who has long dogged the Defense Department over wasteful spending.
“It’s difficult to understand why you should keep other aspects of the program under the veil of secrecy,” McCain told Wilson during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “Don’t the American people deserve to understand more about what their dollars are being spent [on], such as $2 billion of R&D money requested in this year’s budget?”
The Defense Department inspector general is reviewing the secrecy around the $80 billion B-21 program, which could provide the Air Force with a new generation long-range bomber, Bloomberg reported last month. The service released an artist’s rendering and basic details about the future aircraft last year.
Wilson, who had only testified as secretary to Congress once before about space operations, told McCain that the service is “very open” and sharing spending information with the committees on Capitol Hill.
“That is not true, Madame Secretary, that is simply not true,” McCain fired back.
Wilson dodged a question from McCain over when the service will release more details on the requested development money.
“There is always a balance between not telling our enemies what we are doing and making sure we are forthcoming with the representatives of the American people,” Wilson said.
