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I understand that Nancy Pelosi regularly gets a USAF passenger jet for long-distance abroad (C-40, a modified Boeing 737 if I'm not mistaken), because she's third in the "line of succession" after POTUS and the VP.

But I'd like to know how far "down" does the USAF jet provision goes in Congressional delegation. E.g. why did Sen. Ed Markey's delegation to Taiwan get a similar USAF jet?

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    See also, C-32: The four C-32As are operated by the 1st Airlift Squadron of the 89th Airlift Wing. They are available for use by the vice-president (using call sign Air Force Two), the first lady, and members of the Cabinet and Congress (using SAM callsigns). A C-32 is a modified Boeing 757.
    – Rick Smith
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 14:02

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This Department of Defense(DoD) document is from 2010. While that's decently old, it provides for the following

It is DoD policy that support for approved travel of members and employees of Congress shall be provided on an economical basis upon request of Congress pursuant to law, or where necessary to carry out DoD duties and responsibilities. The DoD support for travel of members and employees of Congress shall be based on:

It goes on to basically say military airlift is not for general travel needs. Section C is the relevant portion (CODEL is the acronym for Congressional delegations)

Prudent utilization of DoD transportation resources. Military airlift shall not be used for CODELs if commercial airline or aircraft (including charter) is reasonably available, i.e., able to meet the traveler’s departure and/or arrival requirements in a 24-hour period, unless highly unusual circumstances present a clear and present danger; an emergency exists; use of military airlift is more cost effective than commercial air; or other compelling operational considerations make commercial transportation unacceptable.

While they could have flown commercial to Taiwan, there had been a threat to shoot Pelosi's plane down. Thus, there was a "clear and present danger". Lloyd Austin, the current Secretary of Defense, said this about the situation with China

“We’ve seen an alarming increase in the number of unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by [People’s Liberation Army] aircraft and vessels,” Austin said at the time. “This should worry us all.”

Austin was ostensibly trying to discourage Pelosi's trip.

There's also the upshot of having them be on an openly military aircraft. It's far less likely you have a shoot down of another country's military plane, versus, say, a civilian one (where a member of Congress did die).

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  • The relevant part would then be that there is a danger present that makes commercial transportation between the US and Taiwan unacceptable for Congressional delegations currently?
    – NoDataDumpNoContribution
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 18:14
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    @Trilarion I believe the Chinese can intercept a commercial airplane and force it to re-route, but it would not do so to the airplane that is used by the military to avoid the escalation of tension.
    – r13
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 18:26
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    @Trilarion There's a different between Senator Soandso going on vacation and flying commercial to Taiwan and a large delegation publicly going to Taiwan.
    – Machavity
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 18:27
  • I'm not 100% convinced on the last sentence. The USSR also shot down plenty of US military aircraft. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… Yeah the Chinese might have tried some kind of "Belarus maneuver" with a civilian aircraft, not readily possible with a military one (because who got the bomb on board, if there's only a few screened people on board...)
    – got trolled too much this week
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 1:41

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