In a career-defining victory for a young lawmaker, sophomore Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) corralled conservative freshmen to beat his own party leadership this week, spearheading a pivotal House vote to cut $450 million for a competitive engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Top House leaders - Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Armed Services Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) - were arrayed in favor of preserving the program,
in part because the alternative engine is built by GE, a big employer in Boehner’s home state of Ohio.
