President Trump’s plan to create a separate military service to defend America’s space assets hit a bipartisan wall of skepticism in the Senate Thursday, with leaders of the Armed Service Committee questioning the cost and structure of one of the president’s signature initiatives.
While senators generally agree that the United States needs to refocus efforts to protect American satellites and counter Chinese and Russian efforts to weaponize space, they question the need for a bureaucracy that includes two new four-star generals and a civilian undersecretary for a force of between 16,000 and 20,000 people, by far the smallest service.
“My first area of concern is the creation of what seems to be a very top-heavy bureaucracy,” said Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed, ranking member of the committee, noting the Pentagon plan calls for roughly 1,000 personnel to serve in headquarters positions. “Presently the smallest force is the Marine Corps, with the total force of 246,000 military and civilian personnel and headquarters staff of 1,200,” Reed noted.
“When I first heard about the proposal, I asked two simple questions: What will the organization fix and how much will it cost?” said committee chairman James Inhofe. “This is going to be a $2 billion program, so for my purposes, I’m going to assume that’s right, but I’m still waiting for the answer for the other question,” the Oklahoma Republican said in his opening comments.
The skeptical tone dominated the hearing, in which acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, and U.S. Strategic Command leader Gen. John Hyten all testified in favor of the Trump proposal.
Virtually every member of the committee questioned the need for a separate service instead of relying on the newly established U.S. Space Command, which will be headed by a four-star combatant commander and is modeled on the other combatant commands.
“I understand the threat, and I understand our adversaries are moving forward, but I don’t understand how adding a box to an organizational chart is going to give us some kind of a qualitative military edge,” said Maine independent Angus King.
“I’m skeptical. I don’t think it’s broken. I think you’re doing a good job. Why are we going to fix it?” King asked Hyten, the U.S. nuclear commander who has been nominated to be the next vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
“We’ve been doing a good job in an environment where space has not been contested,” replied Hyten. “What is changing is we have adversaries that are building significant capabilities that can challenge us in space.”
King countered that U.S. Space Command is well positioned to deal with that threat. “I think Space Command makes sense,” he said. “But to create a new bureaucracy that’s going to cost us half a billion dollars a year, I’ve got to be convinced there’s some incremental value there.”
Shanahan promised to work with the committee to address the concerns but warned that in a few short years, the need for more robust space defenses will be much more obvious than it is today, as more nations challenge U.S. space superiority.
West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin questioned why the Air Force, which has the primary responsibility for space, can’t meet the challenges without setting up a new military service.
“I’m having a real hard time understanding why we need this other agency. You’ve got everything at your disposal right now,” Manchin said, addressing his comments to outgoing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. “And you want more attention to it, we’ll give you what you need.”
