Skelton: Obama May Need To Use Veto Threat

Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton suggested Monday that President Obama may have to use a veto threat to preserve his plan to use one Air Force tanker supplier -- as opposed to multiple, which some House Democrats support.

"That is probably where we'll start and end," Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said in reply to a question about moves in Congress that would guarantee Air Force purchases from both rival tanker suppliers -- Boeing Co and a team of Northrop Grumman Corp and Europe's EADS, reports REUTERS.

The powerful Pennsylvania Rep. Jack Murtha has already signaled he favors a dual-source strategy in dealing with the purchase of new tankers. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates favors a winner-take-all competition to award the contract.

Skelton declined to discuss his personal stance on dividing the tanker buy.

But the veteran mid-Missouri Congressman dispensed this advice: "Very seldom is a veto overridden," he said, referring to whether the dual-source idea gains further traction in Congress. "I think that's what you should look for."