Procurement of Air Force F-22 fighters began in FY1999, and a total of 187 have been procured through FY2009, including 24 in FY2009. The issue for Congress is whether to approve the Administration's proposal in the FY2010 budget to end F-22 procurement at 187 aircraft, or reject that proposal and provide funding in FY2010 for the procurement of additional F-22s in FY2010 and/or subsequent years. The White House has vowed to veto any bill that supports the acquisition of F-22s beyond the 187 that have been procured through FY2009.

On February 26, 2009, the Administration released the broad outlines of its federal budget request for FY2010, listing for each Cabinet department and for several independent agencies the total discretionary budget authority President Obama would request, but providing no additional details. Full details of the request were made public May 7, 2009. For the Department of Defense (DOD) in FY2010, the Administration requested a total of $663.7 billion in discretionary budget authority.