Tanker update: Shelby lifts hold on some of Obama nominees

Published 10:28 am Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby has lifted the hold he had placed on the Obama administration nominees over the Air Force tanker contest.

The Hill reports that Shelby released on Tuesday the hold on some of the 70 Obama administration nominees that he had blocked.

Shelby had blocked the nominations in part to put pressure on the U.S. Air Force as it prepares to release its final requirements for an aerial refueling tanker contract. The competition pits the Boeing Co. against Northrop Grumman and EADS, which would build their tanker in Alabama.

Northrop has threatened to drop out of the contest, saying the Air Force’s draft requirements favor Boeing’s KC-767 tanker.

The Pentagon posted a notification on its Web site yesterday that it won’t release the final requirements before Feb. 23. That Friday, the 26th, is a good bet for the release, given that the Pentagon tends to like to release these things on Fridays.