After a long battle that aligned Barack Obama and John McCain against John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, the Senate has voted to stop production of the F-22.
The Senate voted 58 to 40 to strip $1.75 billion for the Lockheed Martin Corp-built planes from a $680 billion defense bill, overriding the objections of lawmakers seeking to protect manufacturing jobs in the midst of a deep recession.
The Senate’s vote does not necessarily kill the program, as the House of Representatives included funding for the state-of-the-art fighter in its bill, which sets military spending priorities.
The two chambers must resolve their differences before sending a final bill to the president to sign into law.
Obama has threatened a veto if Congress continues to fund the F-22 beyond the 187 planes already built or in the production pipeline.