Days after President Joe Biden selected Colorado Springs as the permanent home for Space Command, an Alabama lawmaker on Thursday threatened to subpoena top military officials for documents related to the decision. 

The threat followed days of celebration by Colorado lawmakers who declared victory after tussling with Alabama since 2021 over the command. In his final days in office, former President Donald Trump said in a radio interview he single handedly picked Huntsville, Ala., as the permanent home for the command.

Space Command employs about 1,200 people locally from all service branches and will support numerous high-paying jobs, including defense contractors, making it a valuable asset to the community. 

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., sent an outraged letter Thursday to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and U.S. Space Command leader Gen. James Dickinson demanding that they release documents related to the command’s headquarters and mission requirements.

“Your refusal to abide by the Committee’s repeated requests for responsive documents and transcribed interviews can only be considered obfuscation and purposeful delay, highlighted by the fact that the basing decision was decided while the Committee’s requests are outstanding. This is unacceptable,” the letter stated. “It now appears you have something to hide.”

If the committee does not receive an adequate response, Rogers said he would seek a subpoena to release documents and compel Kendall and Dickinson to appear for interviews. The latest letter was the committee’s fifth request for information. 

Rogers gave the two leaders until Aug. 9 to provide the documents and schedule interviews. The committee’s deadline to speak with the leaders had been Aug. 18 but neither had scheduled a time to appear. 

The demand follows earlier concerns from Rogers, who said in May he was alarmed that fundamental changes had occurred to command’s headquarters requirements without civilian oversight.

Dickinson said in testimony before Congress in the spring that he expected the command to reach full operational capability in existing buildings in Colorado Springs.

A spokeswoman for Kendall told The Gazette this week that the Air Force would work with Space Command on plans for headquarters over the next several months. It was unclear from her response if the Air Force still planned to build a 464,000-square-foot headquarters in Colorado Springs as envisioned by an earlier environmental assessment completed for all the potential bases.