WASHINGTON (CN) — Seething from what he sees as a political snub from the Biden administration, the Alabama Republican at the helm of the House Armed Services Committee demanded information Thursday about what steps the military took in scouting locations to be the future home of U.S. Space Command.
The uproar began Monday with the Pentagon's announcement that President Biden had decided to keep the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, scrubbing what had been the Trump administration’s plan to move the base to Huntsville, Alabama.
Congressman Mike Rogers and his Republican colleagues have blasted the news, which they decried as politically motivated.
“Alabama is united against this administration’s careless attempt to place politics over national security,” Rogers tweeted Monday.
Now, an angry Rogers, who chairs the House’s armed services panel, is doubling down on demands for documents and other information related to Space Command’s headquarters deliberations. In a Thursday letter to Space Command lead General James Dickinson and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the congressman complained that the Pentagon had yet to furnish the requested information or provide transcribed interviews with Dickinson or Kendall.
“Your refusal to abide by the Committee’s repeated requests for responsive documents and transcribed interviews can only be considered obfuscation and purposeful delay, highlighted by the fact that the basing decision was decided while the Committee’s requests are outstanding,” Rogers wrote. “This is unacceptable.”
The Alabama Republican threatened to subpoena Space Command for the basing information, saying he would also take steps to force Kendall and Dickinson to sit for an interview with lawmakers. “It now appears you have something to hide, otherwise a forthright response to the Committee’s patient and numerous requests would have already come.”
In a statement Monday, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said that President Biden’s decision to keep Space Command headquarters in Colorado Springs came after “a thorough and deliberate evaluation process.”
“Locating Headquarters U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs ultimately ensures peak readiness in the space domain for our nation during a critical period,” Ryder said. “It will also enable the command to most effectively plan, execute and integrate military spacepower into multi-domain global operations in order to deter aggression and defend national interests.”
Despite reports from the Air Force that designated Huntsville as the best location for a permanent base, U.S. military officials disclosed Monday that General Dickinson had convinced President Biden not to move the Space Command headquarters from its temporary home at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.
Republicans aren't alone in their anger over the White House’s decision this week.
“The Administration’s decision to keep Space Command in Colorado bows to the whims of politics over merit,” Democratic Representative Terri Sewell of Huntsville tweeted. “Huntsville won this selection process fair and square based on the merits.”
Sewell joined her Republican colleagues in blaming the move on partisan politics. “A decision of this magnitude should not be about red states versus blue states, but rather what is in the best interest of our national security.”
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement that the basing decision was “very simply the wrong decision for national security.”
Colorado lawmakers appear pleased meanwhile that Space Command is staying put. “For two and a half years we’ve known any objective analysis of this basing decision would reach the same conclusion we did, that Peterson Space Force Base is the best home for Space Command,” said Senator John Hickenlooper, a Democrat. The decision “firmly rejects the idea that politics — instead of national security — should determine basing decisions central to our national security.”
Although the Air Force ranked Huntsville as the top choice for Space Command headquarters, a June 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office found that the military’s analysis “did not fully or substantially meet” certain best practices for making such decisions.
The Air Force’s review only partially met criteria for well-documented and unbiased analyses and fell short of best practices by not requiring an independent review or completing a full cost estimate for the project, Congress’ independent watchdog organization said.
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