Alabama leaders react to President Biden’s decision not to move Space Command to Huntsville

FILE – President Joe Biden (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Alabama’s state and federal elected leaders were quick to react Monday to the news that President Biden would not be moving Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville.

Officials said Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. That view was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville was the right move. Huntsville is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.

“The White House choosing to not locate Space Command Headquarters in Alabama – the rightful selection – is very simply the wrong decision for national security. The fact that a CNN reporter is who first delivered the news to Alabama should say all,” Gov. Kay Ivey (R-Alabama) said.

“Over two and a half years ago, the Air Force chose Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville for the headquarters of Space Command over 59 other cities on the basis of 21 different criteria. As soon as Joe Biden took office, he paused movement on that decision and inserted politics into what had been a fair and objective competition—not because the facts had changed, but because the political party of the sitting President had changed… …This is absolutely not over. I will continue to fight this as long as it takes to bring Space Command where it would be best served—Huntsville, Alabama,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) said.

“Huntsville finished first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation Phase and Selection Phase, leaving no doubt that the Air Force’s decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct purely on the merits. That decision should have remained in the Air Force’s purview. Instead, President Biden is now trying to hand the Gold Medal to the fifth-place finisher,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) said.

While Alabama’s Republican leadership sharply criticized the decision, the state’s Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell also expressed her own dissatisfaction:

“The Administration’s decision to keep Space Command in Colorado bows to the whims of politics over merit. Huntsville won this selection process fair and square based on the merits. In three separate reports, Huntsville reigned victorious, whereas Colorado did not come in second or even third. This reversal is as shameful as it is disappointing.

“I expected more from the Biden Administration. 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.

“To be clear, the Alabama Congressional Delegation stands united in opposition to this decision,” Sewell said.

Space Command was created in August 2019.  In his final days in office, President Donald Trump decided it should be based in Huntsville.

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