The old joke about the SLS being the Senate Launch System seems to be more accurate as time goes on.

The irony of this is that the least desirable outcome for SLS is to actually produce a launch.

That may end shortly. The Senator from Alabama pushing the SLS, Richard C. Shelby, is not running for re-election and will be gone soon.

The coalition supporting SLS in Congress is much broader than just Senator Shelby, though he's definitely one of the biggest proponents - an old school Senator purely motivated bringing home the money to his state. There are plenty of SLS advocates in both the Senate and House - SLS is not going anywhere just yet.

Well, we'll find out on November 14th if the SLS is going anywhere. That's the next scheduled try at a launch.

>> 4 RS-25s per year

> more like 4 years for ONE

That is disingenuous. The message you pointed to says "4-4.5 years from when we order material" which is comparing the manufacturing of an assembled item with the full length of the supply chain.