Womack confident in F-35 mission, talks ‘red lines’ with Ukraine, DOGE

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, revealed his thoughts on a number of important federal and local issues in a wide-ranging interview on Talk Business & Politics on Sunday (March 23).

The 3rd District Republican said he feels confident the F-35 pilot training mission located at Fort Smith’s Ebbing Air Base is on secure footing despite shifting policies from the Biden administration to the Trump White House.

“Do I think that the F-35 mission, the Joint Strike Fighter mission, the FMS sales to foreign countries is in a good spot? I really do. We got the Poles there now that are training. They arrived late last year and we’ve got their aircraft on the ground. We’ll have the Fins coming in in a few months with their aircraft, and then, of course, the Germans, Singaporeans and others,” said Womack. “So look, I think the F-35 is the platform that people are going to be training on for a couple of generations, and it excites me to know that foreign pilots who are going to be flying our F-35 platform are going to be getting their training in Fort Smith.”

Womack said there is still work to be done to further cement Fort Smith’s standing in the mission, specifically tied to an academic training center that has yet to be federal funded.

“There are some things that we still need to do at Ebbing to continue to make that the preferred training area, not the least of which is the academic training center that I had tried to get some earmarked funds in the fiscal ’25 bill to accelerate the build out of that academic training center. Now, we still may be able to do it, but it won’t be through earmarked funds. We’ll have to figure out another way to do it,” he said.

“I hope that does not create a hiccup in our ability to effectively conduct that training without continuing to have to send some of these pilots to Eglin [Air Force Base] for some of this activity and then only the hands-on training in Fort Smith last year. This delegation, Arkansas’ delegation, put the better part of $300 million into the Ebbing infrastructure for the purposes of conducting this training,” added Womack.

Womack offered thoughts on ending the Ukraine-Russia war and Trump’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

“Putin, I don’t think he’s an honest broker. I think he’s got some long-term interest in that region of the world that is counterproductive, shall we say, to peace and stability of Eastern Europe,” said Womack.

When asked about Putin’s demands that U.S. military and intelligence briefings to Ukraine end, Womack voiced apprehension.

“It is troublesome to me. I don’t think that will be an outcome, but look, when you’re negotiating with people who are in conflict with one another, there’s going to be a give and take in any serious negotiation. I would expect of Vladimir Putin say, ‘We don’t want Eastern Europe, the NATO countries providing intelligence information to Ukraine.’ When we’re trying to beat up on those guys, I would expect him to ask for that. But I think that would also be counterproductive to what I believe would be a long and lasting outcome in that conflict,” he said.

On the subject of Elon Musk’s handling of federal cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Womack said he welcomed outside recommendations, but thinks final decisions need to come from federal agency heads and Congress.

“What I approve of are any outside experts, successful people, particularly from the private sector who have the capacity to be able to give a second set of eyes to how this federal government is wired, how it’s built, and give us examples of where we can create efficiency and save money. Nobody does it better than the private sector here,” he said in reference to Walmart.

“I will say I approve of the fact that we’re going to have outside people looking, but here’s where I think the rub is. Instead of giving, say, Elon Musk and the DOGE and that DOGE committee, the opportunity to make hiring and firing decisions and whether to have and keep certain government agencies, that should rest with a combination of the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government.

Lastly, the congressman said the cuts recommended and made by DOGE to the Veterans Administration are “on my radar,” but he said the full scope of changes has yet to be determined.

“I’ve got anecdotal information about certain types of dismissals and layoffs and the like, where I’m going to be drawing the line, and I haven’t yet because we don’t know what the full scope of what’s going to happen at VA is,” he said.

“Those decisions need to be coming from the Secretary of the Veterans Administration, who should be the person best capable of deciding what the future of that organization looks like. If we start getting into complications with dealing with veterans healthcare, that’s where we’ll have to draw this line,” said Womack. “We’ll see when the dust settles, whether or not veterans healthcare – like the Veterans Healthcare System of the Ozarks, Fayetteville VA, Little Rock VA – we’ll see if those cuts and what’s happening within those organizations is actually counterproductive to the overall well-being of the veterans that we treat on a daily basis. That will be the red line.”

You can watch Womack’s full interview in the video below.