With but five of twelve Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) appropriations bills completed a month into the fiscal year, the House and the Senate today both passed the Interior-Environment appropriations bill conference report, and with it, a second continuing resolution (CR) that will continue to keep the federal government operating through December 18th at "as you were in FY09" levels of funding.  Tough decisions on the volume and content of FY10 defense spending will have wait -- likely for another month or more -- as will the commencement of any new program starts.  In the past the Hill and White House pointed to divided government and partisan politics as the reason for inaction.  How about now?

In a July 29th Statement of Administration Policy, the White House characterized the unwanted (GE-Rolls-Royce F-136) alternate engine for the F-35 as "unnecessary" and as "diverting resources from the overall JSF program."  The Administration vaguely threatened a veto if funding for the program -- zeroed by the Pentagon -- appeared in the final FY10 Defense Authorization Bill.  

Three weeks later, speaking before a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention on August 17th, President Obama asserted:"If the Congress sends me a defense bill loaded with a bunch of pork, I will veto it."

Fast forward two months and the inclusion of $560 million for the continued development of the extra engine - and some 1787 additional earmarks -- apparently didn't rise to the level of "a bunch of pork" and today, speaking before troops at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, President Obama indicated that he would ineed sign the Defense Authorization bill later this week.  

Tthe President's apparent cave-in on the alternate engine funding issue -- just days after a DoD "Joint Estimate Team" reported that the F-35 program will take more time and billions more dollars to complete than previously advertised -- suggests not only that the Obama Administration's efforts to curb the legislative prerogative of his fellow Democrats in the Congress have failed, but also that the President is not up for a fight on the matter.

There's still the FY10 Defense Appropriations Bill for him to consider -- and a raft of parallel Presidential veto threats in play --  but here's guessing that the "whatever" tone is set and that defense reform is a tradeable outcome.