U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has formally invited military officials involved in the U.S. Space Command basing decision to testify before the committee.
President Biden announced the decision to locate the headquarters in Colorado Springs one day before Congress left for August recess, despite all government reports indicating Redstone Arsenal as the definitive choice.
Last week, speaking alongside fellow members of the Alabama congressional delegation, Rogers (R-Saks) said the legislative branch will “correct” Biden’s “politically motivated” choice.
RELATED: Rogers: Congress will ‘correct’ Biden on Space Command
Today, Rogers announced he’s invited Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, U.S. Space Command Commander Gen. James Dickinson, and Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman to testify before a public hearing.
“In May, I opened a congressional investigation into the Biden administration’s shameful delay to finalize the permanent basing decision for U.S. Space Command,” Rogers said today. “When the Secretary of the Air Force finally made a decision, he upheld his predecessors’ decision to base U.S. Space Command in Huntsville, Alabama.
“President Biden then usurped the Air Force Secretary’s authority and named Colorado Springs the permanent basing site for U.S. Space Command in order to improve his political standing for next year’s re-election.”
Rogers has warned he’s capable and willing to exercise subpoena power through the Department of Defense oversight authority vested in HASC.
RELATED: Space Command general blasted over home purchase
The Associated Press reported last month that Gen. James Dickinson was instrumental in convincing Biden to locate the base in his home state of Colorado.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt has since raised concerns that Gen. James Dickinson has profound conflicts of interest.
“General Dickinson is a Colorado native,” Britt said in an interview last week. “He graduated from Colorado State (bachelor’s) and the Colorado School of Mines (master’s). And now we’ve uncovered that he bought a 20-acre farm and 4,000 square-foot dream house in – you guessed it – Colorado.
“This $1.5 million property is just miles down the road from the interim Space Command headquarters in Colorado Springs – and he purchased it just a couple of months before recommending that Colorado be awarded the permanent headquarters.”
Since Biden’s strategically timed announcement one working day after Congress returned home for a month-long recess, Alabama’s congressional delegation has begun to express a vicious interest in recourse.
Rep. Jerry Carl, member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he won’t fund project and operational costs for SPACECOM in Colorado Springs.
“From the appropriations standpoint, every dollar that they need, that I can cut off, will be cut off. If it’s my choice, they’re going to be walking,” Carl (R-Mobile) said.
RELATED: Alabama delegation blasts ‘shameful’ Space Command decision
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), Alabama’s singular Democratic official in Congress, said Biden’s decision “bows to the whims of politics over merit.”
Rogers is following up on a request made first last month, seeking documents and recorded testimony from Dickinson and Kendall. At that time, before an official call from Biden, he accused decision-makers of “deliberate, taxpayer-funded manipulation of a competitive selection process.”
His deadline was Aug. 18.
“We will get answers on President Biden’s political manipulation of the selection process,” Rogers said today.
Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270
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