GOP senator blocks Schumer request to stop Trump from using taxpayer money to max out new Air Force One

Republican Sen. Deb Fischer (Neb.) on Wednesday objected to a request from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) for unanimous consent to prohibit President Trump from using taxpayer money to further retrofit a luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the president from Qatar.

The GOP senator blocked Schumer’s request to pass his Presidential Airlift Security Act, which would stop the Pentagon from spending more taxpayer money to modify Trump’s new jet.

Schumer said Trump’s decision to accept the jet to serve as the new Air Force One was another example of what he called “corruption” in the administration.

“Now he wants the taxpayers to fund his palace in the sky as well. Trump’s $400 million foreign jet, the biggest gift a president has received from a foreign government ever, is anything but free. Taxpayers will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to outfit Trump’s luxury jet with the security upgrades it needs to serve as Air Force One,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Fischer rose to object and pointed out that that Schumer’s proposal had already been considered and voted down by the Senate earlier this year.

Fischer also argued that Schumer’s bill would negatively impact the Survivable Airborne Operations Center program, which is designed to provide the president with a hardened airborne command post during a nuclear conflict.

“Unfortunately, this legislation would also apply to a different aircraft, the Survivable Air Operations Center aircraft. … Those aircraft were actually purchased from Korea Air so this legislation would hamper a crucial program that ensures presidential safety in the event of nuclear war,” she said.

Trump returned from a trip to Turkey earlier this month aboard the old Air Force One amid concerns the new jet received from Qatar does not have the security upgrades necessary to protect the president.

The New York Times reported that the new Air Force One lacks the defensive countermeasures to evade missiles and other threats.

Trump said on Sunday that the jet donated by Qatar will be “maxed out,” suggesting it could get retrofitted with new security equipment.

Schumer argued the need to make additional security upgrades to Qatari jet further shows why accepting it was a bad idea.

“You thought this illegal gift was bad before, it’s even worse now. We just learned that this new jet wasn’t safe enough for Trump to make the return flight from the NATO summit in Turkey,” Schumer said.  

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