The people with the money to spend
That's my point, they no longer have the money to spend. The US federal government is currently (or was before the sequester kicked in) running up debt to the tune of $1 trillion a year. It's looking more and more likely that the sequestered cuts will simply be replaced with targeted cuts at which point the Air Force begins to make a very convincing argument that it needs a new 5th gen aircraft at the expense of the Navy's Army's Air Force.
The low hanging fruit for defense cuts has already been picked in the last budget deal...and they now need to double the savings.
The coming choice seems to be between all 3 variants being produced in far fewer numbers, or the A variant being the sole survivor in moderate numbers. Personally, I think the Air Force will win.
Of course, the corps always punches way above its weight on the hill.