Lawmakers ramp up pressure on Air Force to make permanent Space Command base choice
Mike Brest
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House members are increasing the pressure on the Air Force to make a final decision about the long-term location of the United States Space Command.
SPACECOM is currently housed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but during the final days of the Trump administration, the Air Force selected the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred location for its permanent base. Colorado officials are keen on keeping the base there. It contributes roughly 1,400 jobs and millions of dollars to the state’s economy.
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The House Armed Services Committee released a draft of the National Defense Authorization Act, the must-pass legislation that funds defense spending for the fiscal year, and there’s a provision that would halt construction spending on the temporary headquarters in Colorado until the Air Force announces its final decision and is able to justify the selection.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s travel budget would be cut in half until the permanent headquarters is finalized.
The House Appropriations Committee also added language into its separate 2024 military construction funding bill on Tuesday that would halt funding for Space Command’s headquarters until a final decision is made.
Lawmakers from both Colorado and Alabama have publicly pleaded their case: Colorado lawmakers argue it would take less time to get the temporary base to full capacity than moving to Huntsville and getting the base up and running there, while Alabama politicians have cited the department’s initial decision and a subsequent review of that process.
“Huntsville won the competition, and they’re gonna get the permanent base,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said of provisions in his defense policy bill, per Politico. “And we’re gonna make sure that anybody who thinks they’re going to get authorization or funding to [undo] that is mistaken.”
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), an Armed Services Republican whose district includes Colorado Springs, said the move to Alabama would “disrupt day-to-day operations” of Space Command, and he urged for the provisions within the defense bills to be withdrawn immediately.”
Gen. James Dickinson, the commander of Space Command, launched a review earlier this month to determine whether the base is at full operational capability, which should answer the question of whether it has the resources and personnel to be totally capable of performing its mission in its current location, according to NBC News. Under its current status of “initial operating capability,” Space Command hires personnel for temporary positions, though switching would allow them to make the positions permanent.
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The Biden administration has reportedly considered not moving Space Command’s headquarters to Alabama due to the state’s strict anti-abortion laws, though a White House official told the Washington Examiner last month that abortion laws or reproductive care access are not factors in the review of the permanent location.
Rogers sent a letter to Kendall and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in May requesting the department preserve all documentation regarding the selection of a location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters due to concerns that access to abortion could factor into the decision.