XPost: alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.politics.marijuana, co.politics
XPost: sac.politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Trump administration expected to reverse a controversial 2023 decision on the permanent location of U.S. Space
Command, a review by the Defense Department inspector general could not determine why Colorado was chosen over Alabama.

The inspector general’s report, issued Friday, said this was in part due
to a lack of access to senior defense officials during the Biden administration, when the review began.

The location of U.S. Space Command has significant implications for the
local economy, given the fast growth in national defense spending in space-based communications and defenses.

In 2021, the Air Force identified Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,
Alabama, as the preferred location for the new U.S. Space Command due to
cost and other factors. But a temporary headquarters had already been established in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after multiple delays
President Joe Biden announced it as the permanent headquarters.

Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation accused the Biden
administration of politicizing the decision. But Colorado, which has
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, is home to many other Air Force and
U.S. Space Force facilities.

As recently as last week, Rep. Mike Rogers House, an Alabama Republican
who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, told a panel at Auburn University he expects the decision to be reversed by the White House
before the end of April.


The location of Space Command would be one of many decisions that have
swung back and forth between Biden and President Donald Trump. For
instance, Biden stopped the construction of the border wall that began
during Trump’s first term, only to have Trump now vow to complete it. And
Trump is again seeking to ban transgender troops from serving in the
military, after Biden removed Trump’s first-term limitations.

The controversy over the basing decision began seven days before Trump’s
first term expired, when his Air Force secretary announced Alabama would
be home to Space Command, pending an environmental review.

That review was completed about six months into Biden’s term and found no significant impact with hosting the command in Alabama. But the new administration did not act on the decision.

Instead, a year later, the Biden White House said it was keeping the headquarters in Colorado Springs, citing the time that would be lost
relocating staff and the headquarters to Huntsville.

The report said interviews has been requested with Biden’s Air Force
Secretary Frank Kendall and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to understand
why Huntsville was not named, but the Biden White House would only allow
the interviews if administration lawyers were present. The inspector
general rejected that condition, saying it could affect its unfettered
access to information.

https://apnews.com/article/space-command-trump-huntsville-colorado- ef549110126cc5de2da45d59255702bd

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)