Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Wednesday he is seeking a court order to block Space Command from moving to Alabama from Colorado Springs.

President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 2 that Space Command would move to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. About 1,000 employees would be expected to move, Rep. Jeff Crank’s office said earlier, as part of a process that could take several years.

The command is separate from the Space Force, the youngest military service branch, and a much larger employer in Colorado Springs. 

Trump’s decision may have been unconstitutional because it was intended to punish Colorado for its mail-in voting system and violated federal law requiring public notices and reports to Congress, Weiser said in the federal lawsuit. Trump said during the announcement that Colorado’s mail-in voting system played a “big factor” in his decision because the system leads to “crooked elections.”

There is no evidence that Colorado’s elections have led to fraud since the mail-in system started in 2013.  

The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that states alone have the power to regulate elections for President and state and local offices under the 10th Amendment, the release said. The executive branch is also not permitted to punish states for exercising their powers.

“Retaliation is particularly pernicious because it is open-ended. Colorado faces not only this current punishment but also unbounded future ‘harsh measures’ unless and until the State agrees to bend its sovereign authority in a manner directed by the President,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also argues the Trump administration failed to comply with federal laws requiring the military to follow specific procedures before relocating a major headquarters location, including providing specific notice to congressional committees.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet welcomed the lawsuit.

“I’m glad to see the Attorney General’s Office join this fight, and I look forward to working together to keep Space Command here in Colorado,” he said in a statement.

Trump’s latest Space Command decision reversed a decision former President Joe Biden made in 2023 to keep the base in Colorado Springs.

Keeping the base local is expected to protect national security interests in space, lawmakers and military officials have said.

The entire Colorado congressional delegation outlined the risks moving command poses in statement they sent out together after Trump’s announcement. The delegation is split and includes four republican members of congress.

“Moving Space Command sets our space defense apparatus back years, wastes billions of taxpayer dollars, and hands the advantage to the converging threats of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The Department of Defense Inspector General’s office has reported multiple times that moving the Command will impede our military’s operational capability for years,” it said. 

China poses the largest threat in space. During 2021, the country tested a hypersonic missile that traveled 25,000 miles through space, Gen. Stephen Whiting, who leads Space Command, said in written congressional testimony.

However, Trump argued that Alabama would be the better choice from a national security perspective, noting he expected Huntsville to be home to much of the development work on Golden Dome, a new missile defense system.

The Alabama congressional delegation lobbied hard for the relocation of Space Command, led by Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The powerful group helps shape the military’s budget, and he successfully blocked funding to build a new headquarters for Space Command in Colorado Springs after Biden’s decision.

It could cost $1.2 billion to construct a new headquarters building in Alabama, and rebuilding specialized communications infrastructure could cost $2 billion to $3 billion, The Gazette reported in 2022. Previously, Redstone Arsenal had set aside 60 acres of raw land for Space Command.