Stalling, stalling, stalling, hopefully long enough for a sane president.

Air Force says no decision yet on fate of Offutt-based Open Skies jets (Omaha World-Herald)

Air Force officials at Offutt Air Force Base and in the Pentagon told The World-Herald that no move has been made to sell or scrap two Offutt-based jets tasked with flying photo reconnaissance missions under the international Open Skies Treaty.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo finalized U.S. withdrawal from the pact Sunday, six months after giving notice to the 33 other member nations, including Canada, Russia and most nations in Europe, of the planned pullout.

“United States withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies is now effective,” Pompeo said in a tweet.

The Trump administration proceeded with its plans although President-elect Joe Biden had said when he was running that the U.S. should remain in the treaty.

The Wall Street Journal — quoting an unnamed “senior U.S. official” — reported over the weekend that the Trump administration has moved to declare the two aging OC-135 aircraft that fly the mission as “excess defense articles” and will sell them or scrap them.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow amplified those claims on her program Monday, citing the Journal’s reporting.

“The Trump administration has decided to destroy the airplanes that support the treaty,” she said. “They’re destroying the planes — and they’ve made sure there won’t be any new ones to replace them.”

But Ryan Hansen, a 55th Wing spokesman, said in a statement that the 55th Wing hasn’t been directed to dispose of the OC-135s.

“Nothing has changed,” he said. “The 45th Reconnaissance Squadron is still flying the planes, at a greatly reduced rate, as they have been doing for several months now.”

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