Today is August 1, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

The Air Force has decided that U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters will remain in Colorado Springs, instead of moving to Huntsville, Ala.

The long-awaited decision caps more than two years of wrangling by officials from both Colorado and Alabama after former President Donald Trump announced in the final days of his administration that the command’s headquarters would move to Alabama.

Space Command is a combatant command established in 2019 that employs about 1,200 people from across the military services to provide deterrence in space, and, if necessary, to defend U.S. space assets. It is separate from U.S. Space Force, the newest military branch.

The move had been on hold since early 2021, pending completion of a review of the decision-making process undertaken by the Biden administration.

Elected officials and business leaders from El Paso County and Colorado Springs on Monday afternoon hailed the Air Force’s decision to keep U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters in Colorado Springs as “great news” for the state and the nation’s security.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference held in downtown Colorado Springs, Mayor Yemi Mobolade said the decision that came more than two years after former President Donald Trump announced the command’s headquarters would move to Huntsville, Ala. was “an affirmation of what we already know: Colorado Springs is the home of space.”

He recalled how former Mayor John Suthers left him two letters the day Mobolade took office on June 6. One was a welcome letter. The other was a copy of a letter Suthers penned in March to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, laying out his concerns that Trump’s decision to relocate Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville was a political move.

Mobolade said Monday he came into office intending to continue collaborative efforts to keep Space Command local, which elected and business officials in Colorado Springs and El Paso County had taken up alongside lawmakers such as Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, Democratic U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and others in state government.

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.

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.

Space Command is a combatant command established in 2019 that employs about 1,200 people from across the military services to provide deterrence in space and if necessary to defend U.S. space assets.

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

It is separate from Space Force, the newest military branch.

The Air Force on Monday decided that U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters will remain in Colorado Springs instead of moving to Huntsville, Ala.

The long-awaited decision caps more than two years of wrangling by officials from both states after former President Donald Trump announced in the final days of his administration that the command’s headquarters would move to Alabama.

With less than a month to go until the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, seven candidates say they have met qualifications for a spot on stage in Milwaukee.

But that also means that about half the broad GOP field is running short on time to make the cut.

To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates needed to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.

A look at who’s in, who’s (maybe) out and who’s still working on making it.