Colorado Governor Jared Polis took to social media on Tuesday afternoon to air grievances after President Donald Trump announced the Department of Defense will permanently return U.S. Space Command’s headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.
“Uprooting Space Command will weaken national security and readiness, waste taxpayer dollars, and inconvenience military families,” Polis wrote in a statement posted to X.
“In 2023, President Biden made the decision to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs to ensure our national security in the space domain and because U.S. Space Command was about to reach Full Operational Capability at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, which it did in December.”
Polis’ statement conveniently failed to acknowledge a Department of Defense (DOD) report, released in April, that found that an Alabama-based Space Command would save taxpayers $426 million, as opposed to the Colorado headquarters.
Many have speculated that Biden’s decision was purely political, citing U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Auburn) strategic holds on hundreds of military promotions in protest of a Biden DOD policy that paid for servicemembers’ travel to obtain abortions. Tuberville stalled most of the promotions throughout 2023, but the Biden Administration denied that the protest had anything to do with the decision.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also took issue with Trump’s announcement in a statement on X, writing, “Moving Space Command Headquarters to Alabama is not only wrong for our national defense, but it’s harmful to hundreds of Space Command personnel and their families.”
Weiser went on to threaten legal action should the move proceed as planned.
“The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has been preparing in the event the president made such an unlawful decision to move Space Command HQ. If the Trump administration takes this step – I’m prepared to challenge it in court.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall fired back at Weiser, saying that Alabama is “not sweating” a court battle.
Riley McArdle is a contributor for Yellowhammer News. He is a Senior majoring in Political Science at the University of Alabama and currently serves as Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama. You can follow him on X @rileykmcardle.
