The Boeing tanker-lease controversy evidently no longer is a threat to confirmation of Michael Wynne as Air Force Secretary. That, at least, is the word from Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to Levin, Wynne appears likely to have clear sailing when he faces the panel, which is supposed to hold a hearing on his nomination today. The link between the tanker deal and Wynne was always a tenuous one, more smoke than substance, but some Senators had seized upon it as a club. Levin, one of the Senate’s most astute politicians, wryly told reporters at a private meeting on Wednesday, “Somehow, I’m under the impression that that’s no longer a problem.” Wynne would replace acting SECAF Pete Geren.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.