A new congressional watchdog report looking into whether U.S. Space Command's headquarters would be best served by remaining in Colorado found that new construction would be needed to fix significant problems, a major revelation as the Trump administration weighs moving the command to Alabama.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress' watchdog agency, published a report Thursday examining how former President Joe Biden's administration chose Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as Space Command's headquarters location despite the Air Force identifying Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as its preferred location, selected in the waning days of President Donald Trump's first term in 2021.
"The command is fully operational, but U.S. Space Command officials told GAO that they faced ongoing personnel, facilities and communications challenges," the report detailed. "As a result of identified challenges, officials stated the command's posture is not sustainable long term and new military construction would be needed to support the headquarters' operations in Colorado Springs, Colorado."
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The political fight over Space Command's future in either Alabama or Colorado has been a partisan tug-of-war for more than four years between the Trump and Biden's administrations, as well as the two states' delegations in Washington. Ultimately, with Trump back in office, many Republican lawmakers have been teasing for months that the president or his recently confirmed secretary of the Air Force would reverse Biden's decision.
Thursday's GAO report is just the latest round in the battle over the command's location. Colorado's delegation, as well as other lawmakers, requested a GAO and Department of Defense inspector general's report following Trump's 2021 announcement, and Alabama lawmakers requested two similar probes into Biden's move to reverse that choice in 2023.
Defense budgeting experts such as Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the revelation that new construction would be required for Space Command to stay in Colorado is a blow to that state's lawmakers.
"The main argument for keeping it in Colorado was always that new construction would not be needed right away," Harrison told Military.com. "But if that situation has changed, it certainly makes Alabama more favorable."
The uncertainty in the final basing location has led to personnel issues, the GAO report said, revealing that Space Command was not fully staffed as of fall 2024 -- filling only 1,024 of 1,379 authorized positions, including 576 of 809 government civilian positions.
Space Command officials interviewed by the GAO said this was "due to uncertainty regarding the command's final location and the complexities of hiring government civilians over the more straightforward process of assigning military personnel."
In addition to the staffing woes, Space Command officials said existing facilities had shortcomings, noting they required "military construction of a permanent, purpose-built facility that is better suited to meet its unique power, information technology, square footage and security needs."
The officials also told the GAO that "without new construction, command, control, and mission operations will continue to operate inefficiently with greater vulnerabilities to mission, facilities, and personnel."
While being in Colorado and near other bases and commands -- U.S. Northern Command is nearby, for example -- offers benefits such as enhanced communication networks, there are also issues with sharing information technology networks with Peterson Space Force Base, the officials added.
Alissa Czyz, director of the GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management team, told Military.com that the new report probed how Biden's decision was made, as well as what issues currently face Space Command.
"There was some rigorous analysis performed, kind of in response to some shortcomings identified both by GAO and IG [the DoD inspector general] in our original reports, citing the need for additional analyses and also incorporating military leaders' views of the risks with whatever location," Czyz said.
The GAO probe was one of two investigations into the Biden administration's decision requested by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., alongside a Pentagon inspector general investigation that was released last month. Rogers used his power over the Armed Services Committee to insert language into the annual defense policy bill in 2023 that temporarily halted funding for any Space Command headquarters construction pending the results of the investigations.
Thursday's GAO report noted that, in July 2023, Space Command "proposed a construction project for a new multistory, permanent headquarters facility to replace its current temporary and leased facilities," which would start in 2029 and be complete by 2034 for a price tag of $1.5 billion.
But Rogers' halt on construction funding froze those developments.
"According to U.S. Space Command officials, this project was put on hold and no further planning for the construction of a headquarters facility in Colorado Springs had been initiated as of March 2025," the GAO report noted.
Rogers released a statement on the new GAO report Thursday saying the findings provide further reason for the command to move to his state.
"The GAO report yet again affirms that Huntsville is the best option for Space Command
s headquarters," Roger said in the release. "When making his decision to locate the combatant command headquarters in Huntsville, President Trump prioritized transparency, national security, and a commitment to saving taxpayer dollars."
Notably, neither former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall nor former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Pentagon investigators, citing privileged conversations with former President Biden. The DoD IG report, released in April, showed key details were still missing as to how Kendall identified Redstone Arsenal in Alabama as the preferred location, but Biden made the ultimate announcement and call.
Czyz told Military.com that the GAO spoke with Kendall; according to her, he told investigators that "he was informed of the decision shortly before it happened." They also spoke with other senior defense and Air Force officials, but were not able to get information from the Biden White House, she added.
The multiple investigations since 2021 have done little to sway opinion on Capitol Hill, where the Alabama and Colorado delegations have dug in and claimed vindication after each successive report.
Colorado lawmakers appeared unready to give up Thursday, despite the GAO findings.
"The release of today's GAO report is clear: Colorado Springs is the best home for U.S. Space Command's headquarters. Continued efforts to move the headquarters only hurts [sic] our national security," Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, posted on social media. "Space Command is fully operational, and the Department of Defense needs to move quickly to construct a permanent HQ at Peterson Space Force Base to put the issue to bed, once and for all."
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