A Colorado Democrat is threatening to hold up nominees for the Pentagon’s top positions because Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has declined to meet and discuss the decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters from his home state to Alabama.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., voted against confirming Brendan Owens as assistant secretary of defense for energy and installations on Monday evening, as the Senate works to put President Joe Biden’s nominees in place at the Pentagon.
“The [Pentagon] has repeatedly ignored my request for a meeting with Secretary Austin about the Space Command basing decision,” Bennet tweeted Monday. “For that reason, I voted against Brendan Owens’ nomination tonight, and will consider holds on other Pentagon nominees until a meeting takes place.”
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Fellow Colorado Democrat, Sen. John Hickenlooper, joined Bennet in opposing Owens. The two have been pushing for answers on the long-delayed decision on whether the headquarters for U.S. Space Command will remain in Colorado Springs, Colorado, or move to Huntsville, Alabama, a saga that has been drawn out since the waning days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Subsequent watchdog reports analyzing the choice to move Space Command headquarters did not point to any major issues with Huntsville as a location for the base, but did scrutinize the…
