The Space Command fight isn’t over. And the next round could involve Trump.
Despite President Joe Biden’s decision this summer to reverse a Trump-era move and keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado, House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers is already vowing to use the next defense policy bill to move to Alabama.
And if that doesn’t work, the Alabama Republican is banking on a second Donald Trump term to do it.
The command, which oversees the military’s space assets and the defense of satellites, was reestablished in Colorado Springs in 2019 and the Air Force set about finding it a permanent home. In the waning days of Trump’s term, the Pentagon announced Space Command would relocate to Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal — and he later took credit for “single-handedly” moving it there. Biden reversed the decision and said it should stay in Colorado.
Rogers, in a brief interview, predicted the Alabama delegation’s fight to bring the command to Redstone will get a boost from an investigation by the Pentagon’s top watchdog into the Biden administration’s decision. He said he expects the review will “say exactly what we think: that he politically manipulated" the process.
"We've got two paths, both of which are good,” Rogers said. “One, the IG — inspector general — can come back and say what we know they're gonna say, which justifies us going forward with building in Huntsville.
“And if that [does] not happen, Trump's gonna be there. He's going to enforce what the secretary of the Air Force said under his administration and the secretary of the Air Force said under Biden's administration,” he added. “That is, Huntsville won the competition … and that's where it should be and that's where he's going to build it."
The continued pressure from Alabama lawmakers shows the delegation........
© Politico
visit website