As Colorado Springs and El Paso County officials oppose a lawsuit against the Trump administration over relocating Space Command to Alabama, the state Attorney General’s Office says it won’t back down.

“Some elected officials may choose to accommodate the Trump administration and its illegal intimidation efforts against states with which it disagrees — that is their choice. But when Colorado is attacked and our sovereignty is threatened, it is my duty to protect our state and defend our rights,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. “That’s why our state is standing against this unlawful decision.”

The Colorado Springs City Council and El Paso County Board of County Commissioners have both voted to support an amicus brief that the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC expects to file soon opposing the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s decision to move Space Command headquarters to Alabama.

The move is expected to relocate about 1,000 jobs — 400 uniformed and 600 civilian jobs — from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala., according to data previously shared by the office of U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs.

Space Command brings together service members from across the branches to protect U.S. satellites 62 miles above Earth that enable communications, provide GPS, collect intelligence, and monitor for missile attacks. The command has been fully operational in Colorado Springs since 2023, and moving it would likely cost billions.

It is separate from Space Force, a military branch with a large presence at Peterson and Schriever Space Force bases.

The Colorado Springs City Council approved a resolution opposing the lawsuit on 7-2 vote. The measure said the board would advocate to keep Space Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, but the lawsuit wasn’t the right way forward.

“Litigation of this nature risks politicizing what should remain a mission-
based, national security decision, and could risk damaging Colorado Springs trusted relationship with the Department of War, U.S. Space Command, and other defense departments,” it said.

During a board meeting in December, all five El Paso County commissioners voted to support the amicus brief planned by the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC because the state’s lawsuit seeks to undermine the constitutional authority of the president over military assets, among other reasons, according to the county’s formal resolution.  

“It is important that we take an honest look at the reasons that Huntsville won out over us,” Chairwoman Carrie Geitner said during the meeting. “I think we do ourselves a disservice if we stick our heads in the sand.”

Commissioner Lauren Nelson said that Colorado Springs’ high cost of living probably informed the decision, and that the attorney general should take a hard look at state policies that have driven up those costs.

The reasons for President Donald Trump’s decision to move Space Command headquarters to Huntsville are at the core of the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit argues that Trump decided to move Space Command headquarters because, during the announcement, Trump said that he had a big problem with Colorado’s mail-in voting system and that played a “big factor” in his decision to move the headquarters. 

The lawsuit claims that moving the headquarters in retaliation for mail-in voting violates the Constitution’s separation of powers because states alone have the power to regulate elections. 

The move also continues to threaten military readiness and national security, said Shelby Wieman, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis.

“This is one of many misguided actions where the Trump administration has targeted Colorado without any regard for the impacts on our state and country.” 

In December, Trump cut $109 million for transportation projects in the state, denied disaster relief funding, and announced plans to cut $615 million in Department of Energy funding, the lawsuit states. His decisions followed Colorado’s decision not to free former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters after he pardoned her. She was convicted of a security breach at her office. 

Former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said he didn’t see evidence Trump would stop his unfavorable treatment of Colorado, if the Space Command lawsuit is dropped, given the president’s concern over Peters and other issues. 

“He seems pretty hell-bent on continuing punishment,” Suthers said. 

Colorado Springs is heavily dependent on federal spending and investment in local military bases. 

In the wake of Trump’s decision to move Space Command, Rep. Crank, leaders in the space industry and others have said they still expect strong federal investment in space-centric projects locally, such as Golden Dome, the Trump administration’s missile defense project.  

In December, the Missile Defense Agency selected 2,100 companies to compete for work on Golden Dome through a contract known as SHIELD or Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense. The contract has set aside $151 billion for the work. 

Some companies with a presence in Colorado made the cut, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon — now known as RTX — and Palantir. Many other lesser-known companies made the list, as well.