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   From: missing@earthlink.nut   
      
   WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Trump administration expected to reverse a   
   controversial 2023 decision on the permanent location of U.S. Space   
   Command, a review by the Defense Department inspector general could not   
   determine why Colorado was chosen over Alabama.   
      
   The inspector general’s report, issued Friday, said this was in part due   
   to a lack of access to senior defense officials during the Biden   
   administration, when the review began.   
      
   The location of U.S. Space Command has significant implications for the   
   local economy, given the fast growth in national defense spending in   
   space-based communications and defenses.   
      
   In 2021, the Air Force identified Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,   
   Alabama, as the preferred location for the new U.S. Space Command due to   
   cost and other factors. But a temporary headquarters had already been   
   established in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after multiple delays   
   President Joe Biden announced it as the permanent headquarters.   
      
   Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation accused the Biden   
   administration of politicizing the decision. But Colorado, which has   
   Republican and Democratic lawmakers, is home to many other Air Force and   
   U.S. Space Force facilities.   
      
   As recently as last week, Rep. Mike Rogers House, an Alabama Republican   
   who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, told a panel at Auburn   
   University he expects the decision to be reversed by the White House   
   before the end of April.   
      
      
   The location of Space Command would be one of many decisions that have   
   swung back and forth between Biden and President Donald Trump. For   
   instance, Biden stopped the construction of the border wall that began   
   during Trump’s first term, only to have Trump now vow to complete it. And   
   Trump is again seeking to ban transgender troops from serving in the   
   military, after Biden removed Trump’s first-term limitations.   
      
   The controversy over the basing decision began seven days before Trump’s   
   first term expired, when his Air Force secretary announced Alabama would   
   be home to Space Command, pending an environmental review.   
      
   That review was completed about six months into Biden’s term and found no   
   significant impact with hosting the command in Alabama. But the new   
   administration did not act on the decision.   
      
   Instead, a year later, the Biden White House said it was keeping the   
   headquarters in Colorado Springs, citing the time that would be lost   
   relocating staff and the headquarters to Huntsville.   
      
   The report said interviews has been requested with Biden’s Air Force   
   Secretary Frank Kendall and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to understand   
   why Huntsville was not named, but the Biden White House would only allow   
   the interviews if administration lawyers were present. The inspector   
   general rejected that condition, saying it could affect its unfettered   
   access to information.   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/space-command-trump-huntsville-colorado-   
   ef549110126cc5de2da45d59255702bd   
      
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