President Joe Biden reversed a decision made by Donald Trump and his administration to relocate the temporary headquarters of the Space Command to Alabama. Biden elected to keep the base in Colorado.
Biden consulted with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other military officials before making his decision. Gen. James Dickinson, head of Space Command, also advised the president not to relocate.
Ultimately, Biden believed that keeping the headquarters in Colorado Springs, rather than relocating it to Huntsville, Alabama, would preserve stability and not impact readiness. He was told that moving the headquarters would delay the base from opening until the mid-2030s.
Trump’s decision to relocate the base to Alabama was criticized by Democrats, who believed he made the choice based on his political popularity in the state. Biden’s reversal has already sparked outrage from Alabama Republicans who have been awaiting the decision; he is now being accused of having the same political motivation as Trump.
“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,” said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) in a statement.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby, however, emphasized that Biden’s judgment was based solely on national security considerations.
“This was really a decision based on one thing and one thing only for a president and that was operational readiness,” Kirby told CNN. “He took the inputs of many leaders across the Department of Defense that when it came down to it, he believes that it’s in the best national security interest of the country if we leave Space Command in Colorado.”
