White House Denies Decision To Keep Space Command in Colorado Was Based on Tuberville’s Anti-Abortion Crusade in Senate

The White House is denying pulling the plug on a plan to relocate Space Command to Alabama from Colorado because of Senator Tuberville’s hold on military and defense department appointments because of the Pentagon’s abortion policies.“The deciding factor for President Biden to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs was operational readiness, pure and simple,” the National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, said at a briefing Tuesday, adding that the decision had “nothing to do with partisan politics.”The comment is the latest in a back-and-forth on the issue between Mr. Biden’s administration and the Alabama congressional delegation.The decision overrides President Trump’s order to move Space Command to Alabama from Colorado. Even Alabama’s lone Democratic representative, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, told Punchbowl News that she was disappointed, saying, “I expected more from the Biden administration.”“Huntsville won this selection process fair and square based on the merits,” Ms. Sewell said. “In three separate reports, Huntsville reigned victorious, whereas Colorado did not come in second or even third.”The Pentagon, though, denies that the decision was based on politics, with the Pentagon’s press secretary, Pat Ryderm, saying in a statement that keeping the base where it is “ensures peak readiness in the space domain for our nation during a critical period.”The backdrop to the drama over the location for Space Command is Mr. Tuberville’s hold on appointments at the Department of Defense and the military over the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing personnel who have to travel out-of-state for abortions.The decision to not move Space Command to Huntsville came on Monday and immediately sparked backlash from Mr. Tuberville, who said bypassing “the most qualified sites looks like blatant patronage politics.”“It is also shameful that the Administration waited until Congress had gone into recess and already passed next year’s defense spending budget before announcing this decision,” Mr. Tuberville said in a statement. “This is absolutely not over. I will continue to fight this as long as it takes.”Senator Bennet of Colorado celebrated the news that Space Command would remain in his state, calling it the “rightful home” of the base.“Over the past two and half years, we have repeatedly made the case that the Trump Administration’s decision to relocate U.S. Space Command was misguided,” Mr. Bennet said. “Today’s decision restores integrity to the Pentagon’s basing process.”Senator Hickenlooper also welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that it was made with “our country’s best interest” in mind. “Most importantly, this decision firmly rejects the idea that politics — instead of national security — should determine basing decisions central to our national security,” he said.

White House Denies Decision To Keep Space Command in Colorado Was Based on Tuberville’s Anti-Abortion Crusade in Senate

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