One thing is certain about former President Donald Trump’s last-minute preference for Alabama over Colorado for the permanent headquarters of U.S. Space Command: Football-coach-turned-senator Tommy Tuberville is not going to let up on the offense.
In the confirmation hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick for Air Force secretary, nominee Frank Kendall was asked by the freshman senator if he would support the service’s assessment that led to the choice of Huntsville, Alabama. Redstone Arsenal won the bid over the command’s temporary home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, among a slimmed-down field of six candidates. The process that led to the decision by then-Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett has been called into question and is under investigation by both the Defense Department inspector general and the Government Accountability Office.
Still, Tuberville was insistent that Alabama keep the pressure up to hold its apparent lead.
“The Air Force analysis showed the location at Redstone saves taxpayers millions of dollars, which we all look forward to,” Tuberville told Kendall and Susanna Blume, Biden’s nominee for DOD director of cost assessment and program evaluation.
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Tuberville began his questioning of the nominees by thanking them for “staying by the date of the decision to put Space Command in Huntsville.”
“My colleagues seem to continue to fight that for some reason,” he said.
The GOP senator again made the public case for Huntsville to include a co-location with NASA, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance, potentially reducing launch costs.
“It’s my hope that the decision, which is good for both national security and the taxpayer, remains apolitical,” he said.
But insiders say Trump’s decision was anything but apolitical. On the day that Barrett was reportedly going to deliver the Air Force’s preference for Colorado Springs to the White House, the Alabama delegation was meeting with Trump.
Barrett did not even have a Huntsville information packet with her and sent an aide back to the Pentagon to retrieve it.
Following the meeting, Barrett announced that the Air Force had chosen Huntsville.
IG spokeswoman Dwrena Allen told the Washington Examiner Thursday that the oversight work is in progress and that a status update or timeline could not be provided.
She also said the office was still grappling with pandemic-related remote work challenges that could delay its work.
“Right now, we’re not fully returned to work yet,” she said, noting many federal agencies were awaiting guidance from Biden as to how to return safely and potentially shorten timelines.
Allen confirmed that the scope of the evaluation may lead to visits to both Colorado Springs and Huntsville.
Kendall, who formerly worked at the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command at Redstone Arsenal, acknowledged the two studies and co-location cost savings.
“If confirmed, I would work to see that this happen,” he said. “To take advantage of the synergy with the commercial market for space launch to minimize the cost to the Air Force and Space Force for their future launches.”
The Space Command’s headquarters is slated to remain at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs until at least 2026, and a final basing decision will not be made until 2023 after an environmental impact study is complete. Air Force spokeswoman Sarah Fiocco confirmed to the Washington Examiner Thursday that there is no Air Force investigation related to the command’s decision despite the implication made by Kendall and members of Congress at the hearing.
“It’s not an Air Force investigation. They are reviews led by the DoD Office of the IG and the GAO,” she said. “We don’t have anything new to add.”
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen called on Kendall to promise a clear cost assessment of keeping the command in Colorado Springs versus any military construction that may be required to relocate the command to Huntsville.
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“I will commit to working with you on that as soon as we get some more facts on the table,” Kendall said.
“The Air Force went through a process,” he added. “I’d like to have the results of those, and then, we could have a discussion about the specifics at that point.”
