Some critics are wearing out and given up the fight.
star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article207050669.html
"Government watchdog groups criticise the program for missing deadlines, exceeding cost estimates and failing to live up to promises. But with little appetite left to slow the current program in Washington, they’re now focused on stopping future versions of the plane, rather than convincing Congress to reconsider its investment."
“I have no real illusion we’re going to effect any drastic changes to the F-35,” said Dan Grazier, a military fellow at the Project On Government Oversight, POGO and one of the program’s leading critics in Washington. “It’s next to impossible to generate enough political opposition to the program.”