Braxton Taylor
A watchdog investigation released Tuesday into the back-and-forth decision on where to headquarter U.S. Space Command revealed uncertainty behind the scenes and several major holes, likely extending lawmakers’ push for answers.
The investigation is the latest probe into the basing decision, which started late in President Donald Trump’s first term and has pitted elected officials against one another from the two likely places for the headquarters, Alabama and Colorado.
Trump named Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as his choice in the final days of his first term in 2021. Various investigations by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office quickly followed, with his successor, President Joe Biden, reversing the decision and announcing in late July 2023 that Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, would be the permanent headquarters.
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But investigators had a number of remaining questions about how that decision was reached, and officials from the Biden administration declined to participate in the inquiry.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were not interviewed, with both citing the need to protect confidential conversations with the president.
Despite Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville being identified as the preferred choice by the Trump administration, Kendall never confirmed that decision upon taking office.
However, now retired Gen. James Dickinson, then the head of U.S. Space Command, told investigators that Kendall said he was “moving forward” with Huntsville as the location during an April 3, 2023, meeting.
Dickinson recalled that he said it “should remain in Colorado Springs,” with Austin directing that “we need to look into what he is talking about.”
That same day, Kendall sent Austin a memo triggering an additional review to “delve further” into potential risks to reaching operation capability in relocating the headquarters, which had been operating on an acting basis in Colorado.
Eventually, Kendall said he formally supported Biden’s choice of the Colorado location.
“My assessment was that the projected cost savings, together with the availability of potential mitigation measures, outweighed the operational risks that had been identified,” Kendall said during testimony in front of the House Armed Services Committee in September 2023, months after Biden had announced the decision to keep the headquarters in Colorado.
Kendall added he supported then-President Biden’s decision.The former Air Force secretary did not immediately respond to emails or phone numbers listed for him in public records.
Investigators said that they couldn’t determine what had led to the change without talking to Kendall and Austin.
“We did not interview the [Air Force secretary] or [secretary of defense] because the Office of White House Counsel and DoD Office of General Counsel would not agree to make these officials available for interview without DoD legal counsel present, citing concerns about potentially confidential communications that could implicate executive privilege,” the report said.
The inspector general declined to interview the two with lawyers present.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., told a Mobile, Alabama, radio station this past November that Trump “in the first week that he’s in office, he’ll sign an executive order reversing Biden’s directive.”
Rogers, as well as other Alabama lawmakers, praised the Office of Inspector General findings Tuesday.
“The Inspector General’s report confirms that the Trump administration was correct in selecting Huntsville, AL, as the site for SPACECOM Headquarters, and reveals an astounding lack of transparency and accountability by the Biden administration,” Roger said in a statement Monday.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a resolution Tuesday calling “to immediately proceed in establishing a permanent headquarters for United States Space Command at Redstone Arsenal.”
Related: Colorado Could Lose US Space Command. Trump Is Expected to Move It to Alabama.
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