The secretary of the Air Force, authorized with making the final decision on the permanent home for Space Command headquarters, is investigating changes made in the command’s mission of which the secretary was not aware.
That’s according to a letter released Thursday by Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers, who announced a probe looking into those changes as well by the House Armed Services Committee that he chairs. The Armed Services Committee has oversight of the armed forces.
It’s the first indication that changes have been made to the evaluation process and goes beyond the stepped-up rhetoric in recent months from Alabama’s representatives in Washington as well as Montgomery. Gov. Kay Ivey said last week that Alabama “would not take ‘no’ for an answer” on Space Command.
Those changes, Rogers’ letter said, could alter the requirements previously outlined for the Space Command headquarters. A series of federal reviews determined Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal was the best site for the permanent home of Space Command. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said the revelation of changes to the selection criteria “breaks our trust in the selection process.”
An NBC News report earlier this month said that the Biden administration was looking to keep Space Command at its startup location in Colorado Springs, Colo. The rationalization, the report said, focused on Alabama’s restrictive laws…
