The Pentagon introduced on Monday that President Biden had canceled an order by former President Donald J. Trump to maneuver the United States Space Command headquarters to Alabama, prompting an outcry from Republicans who accused him of appearing out of political spite amid a fierce partisan standoff over the Pentagon’s abortion entry insurance policies.
The determination got here as a blockade of army promotions by Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, dragged into its sixth month. Mr. Tuberville has refused to consent to the promotions of senior generals and admirals in protest of a Pentagon coverage that reimburses army personnel who must journey to acquire an abortion or fertility therapies.
House Republicans have additionally taken goal on the rule, instituted after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional proper to abortion, including language to the annual protection coverage invoice to cancel it.
Mr. Biden made his determination after the top of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, argued that shifting the headquarters to Alabama from its present location in Colorado Springs would damage army readiness, significantly because the United States is racing to compete with China in house, based on a Defense Department official who spoke about it on the situation of anonymity.
“Locating Headquarters U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs ultimately ensures peak readiness in the space domain for our nation during a critical period,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, stated, arguing it might “enable the command to most effectively plan, execute and integrate military space power into multi-domain global operations.”
But in an announcement, Mr. Tuberville stated the reversal, which advantages a Democratic-led state, “looks like blatant patronage politics, and it sets a dangerous precedent that military bases are now to be used as rewards for political supporters rather than for our security.”
Representative Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, promised retribution for the choice, pledging to analyze whether or not administration officers had deliberately manipulated the choice course of.
“It’s clear that far-left politics, not national security, was the driving force behind this decision,” Mr. Rogers stated in an announcement. “This fight is far from over.”
In the ultimate days of his White House tenure, in January 2021, Mr. Trump ordered that Space Command, which was established in 2019 and quickly positioned in Colorado, transfer to a everlasting house in Alabama. After Mr. Biden took workplace, his administration reviewed the choice, however a closing dedication as to the everlasting location of the command’s headquarters was delayed, whereas lawmakers squabbled over the extent to which Mr. Trump had chosen Alabama merely to reward a deeply Republican state.
“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,” Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, stated in an announcement. “Today’s decision restores integrity to the Pentagon’s basing process and sends a strong message that national security and the readiness of our armed forces drive our military decisions.”
Alabama lawmakers and their supporters within the Republican Party take an opposing view. They have lengthy argued that Mr. Trump’s determination to position the command in Alabama settled the matter, and believed that senior army commanders had been on their aspect. In a bid to forestall Space Command from changing into entrenched in Colorado whereas Mr. Biden made his determination, Republicans within the House included language of their model of the annual protection invoice forbidding the army from spending any cash on development of Space Command amenities till the Biden administration decided concerning the headquarters.
“The Biden administration has chosen to play petty politics and keep the headquarters in Colorado Springs, which came in fifth in the selection phase,” Representative Jerry Carl, Republican of Alabama, stated in an announcement, promising to do “all we can to hold the administration accountable for this ridiculous decision.”
On Monday, Mr. Tuberville famous that Mr. Biden bypassed not solely Alabama but additionally two different certified Republican-led states, Nebraska and Texas, in making his determination.
Not all Republicans had been angered by the choice, nevertheless. Colorado Republicans cheered the Biden administration, arguing that it was being sensible for benefiting from the infrastructure already in place — and that the choice was something however partisan.
“I applaud the decision today by the Biden administration to keep U.S. Space Command where it belongs — in Colorado,” stated Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado. “Our entire congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, have worked together for years to achieve this important result.”
Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com