By Sherri Blevins
In 2020, President Donald Trump decided to move the Space Command Center from its temporary location in Colorado to a permanent location in Huntsville, Alabama. On July 31, 2023, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. Space Command would remain in Colorado at its temporary headquarters.
Several politically fueled debates over where the command should be located have occurred in the last several months. According to the Alabama Daily News, U.S. officials say President Biden was convinced by General James Dickinson, the head of the Space Command, that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. This view opposed the Air Force’s leadership, which studied the issue at length and determined that moving to Huntsville was the right decision.
Yaffee, a contributing writer to the Yellowhammer News, stated that both Democratic and Republican members of the Alabama congressional delegation showed their displeasure with President Biden’s decision.
Legislatures took to Twitter, now known as X, to express their opinions, and they released press statements to show their dislike for the reversal.
Yaffee reported several Alabama legislators’ opinions in his article. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) said, “This Administration’s decision to keep Space Command in Colorado bows to the whims of politics over merit. Huntsville’s merits won this selection process fair and square. In three separate reports, Huntsville reigned victorious, whereas Colorado did not come in second or third.” Sewell added, “This reversal is as shameful as it is disappointing. I expected more from the Biden Administration. A decision of this magnitude should not be about red states versus blue states but rather what is best for our national security. To be clear, the Alabama Congressional Delegation stands united in opposition to this decision.”
Former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones responded as well. Jones stated, “I am very disappointed in the President’s decision for Space Command to remain in Colorado and not move to Alabama as was originally announced. I think it’s fair to say that everyone knew where I stood on the issue and over the last couple of years have expressed that to the President and folks at the Pentagon.”
U. S. Rep. Dale Strong (R- Huntsville)said, “It is clear to anyone who has looked at the facts: Huntsville, Alabama is the best place for U.S. Space Command Headquarters. Repeated investigations and objective reviews have proven that to be the case. It is shameful that the Biden Administration is ignoring what is best for our nation’s security and is instead using their woke agenda to make this decision.”
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, called the move “irresponsible” and believes Biden has damaged national defense.
“President Biden has irresponsibly decided to yank a military decision out of the Air Force’s hands in the name of partisan politics,” Britt (R-Montgomery) said. “Huntsville finished first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation Phase and Selection Phase, leaving no doubt that the Air Force’s decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct purely on the merits. That decision should have remained in the Air Force’s purview. Instead, President Biden is now trying to hand the Gold Medal to the fifth-place finisher.”
Britt continued, “The President’s blatant prioritization of partisan political considerations at the expense of our national security, military modernization, and force readiness is a disservice and a dishonor to his oath of office as our nation’s Commander-in-Chief. Locating the permanent Space Command Headquarters on Redstone Arsenal undoubtedly remains in the best national security interest of the United States. President Biden should allow the Air Force to proceed with doing its job. Alabama’s world-class aerospace and defense workforce, capabilities, and synergies stand ready to fulfill the mission and strengthen our national security long into the future.”
U. S. Sen. Tuberville strongly opposed the decision. Part of Tuberville’s comments on the President’s decision follows. “Over two and a half years ago, the Air Force chose Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville for the headquarters of Space Command over 59 other cities on the basis of 21 different criteria. As soon as Joe Biden took office, he paused movement on that decision and inserted politics into what had been a fair and objective competition—not because the facts had changed, but because the political party of the sitting President had changed.”
Tuberville indicated that the fight over the location was not over. He said, “This is absolutely not over. I will continue to fight this as long as it takes to bring Space Command where it would be best served—Huntsville, Alabama. Today’s disastrous mistake just adds to the long string of bad decisions that this compromised President has made. He is batting 1000 in that category since taking office.”
