Outraged Alabama lawmakers promised Monday to fight on for Space Command after the Air Force announced it will stay in Colorado Springs. 

U.S. Space Command employs people from across the military branches to protect U.S. space assets and, if necessary, defend them. It is separate from the Space Force. 

Prior to Monday’s announcement, the command was slated to move to Redstone Arsenal, an Army Base in Huntsville, Ala., that is also home to the Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Space Command headquarters to stay in Colorado Springs, Air Force decides

One Alabama lawmaker with firepower to bring to the fray, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, pledged to use his powerful role as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee to investigate the decision. 

The committee had been looking into the delay around moving the command and changes to the mission requirements that had not gone through civilian oversight. Rogers appeared to double down Monday on X, formerly called Twitter.

“I will be continuing my investigation into Biden’s deliberate, political, taxpayer-funded meddling in this decision,” the Alabama lawmaker said. “This is not over, and Colorado Springs will not be the permanent location for US Space Command.” 

U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, said in an official statement the administration has refused to answer the House Armed Services Committee’s questions as part of the investigation. 

“If they think this will go away … they are wrong,” he said. 

Reaction to Space Command decision: ‘Colorado Springs is the natural choice’

In addition to the investigation, Rogers backed legislation to withhold 50% of the Secretary of the Air Force’s travel budget and all spending on a Space Command building until a report on Space Command was completed. He also quietly put a hold on a routine spending reallocation request for the DOD that held up numerous projects and spending on Air Force personnel. 

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., was among those who felt the process wasn’t objective. Even though Space Command will become fully operational faster in Colorado Springs, as many Colorado lawmakers have said. 

“As soon as Joe Biden took office, he paused movement on that decision and inserted politics into what had been a fair and objective competition – not because the facts had changed, but because the political party of the sitting president had changed,” Tuberville said, according to reporting from The Washington Examiner. 

Space Command: Its history and background

Tuberville has been waging a crusade on the DOD, holding up all military appointments because he disagrees with the military’s policy of allowing service members to take leave to obtain abortions.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle was a bit more conciliatory in his comments, calling the decision demoralizing and disappointing, but pledging to work with the military. 

“No matter where USSPACECOM resides, Huntsville will move forward and continue to be a good neighbor with our national military partners,” he said.