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In
a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, Representative Mike
Rogers, a Republican from Alabama, asked for a Government
Accountability Office investigation, citing "concerns raised
that untoward political interference played a major role" in the
decision by President Joe Biden.
The White House has denied that partisan motivations were behind
the decision. The Pentagon pointed to its public statement from
July 31 saying that the decision was made after consultation
with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the input of senior
military leaders.
Locating the headquarters in Colorado Springs will "enable the
command to most effectively plan, execute and integrate military
spacepower into multi-domain global operations in order to deter
aggression and defend national interests," the statement said.
The U.S. military announced on July 31 that Biden, a Democrat,
had selected Colorado Springs as the permanent location of the
U.S. Space Command headquarters, saying it would ensure "peak
readiness" of the command during a critical period.
Biden's decision came as a Republican senator from Alabama,
Tommy Tuberville, is blocking hundreds of U.S. military
appointments to protest the Pentagon's policy reimbursing costs
for service members who travel to get an abortion.
Space Command is responsible for American military operations in
space.
Tuberville has said that Biden's decision "looks like blatant
patronage politics."
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Mark Porter and
Jonathan Oatis)
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