House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., markup of the annual defense policy bill halts the construction or modification of Space Command facilities and freezes half of the Air Force secretary’s travel budget until he sends Congress a report on the justification for the selection of a permanent location for the headquarters.

A recommendation to move the command from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville was made by then-Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett just one week before she resigned at the end of the Trump administration.

Chairman Rogers wants the Air Force to make a decision, the aide said.

See also — Aderholt: Language added to bill halts Space Command development in Colorado

“What I think we found out through the process over the last two few years while we’re waiting for the Air Force to actually make a decision, is that the Space Command and the Air Force have been signing leases and building out infrastructure in Colorado,” the aide said.

“I think the chairman’s view is: why should you be using taxpayer dollars to build up all this infrastructure when the Air Force made a decision, it has been reviewed by two different reviewers and found that Huntsville, Alabama won, and won fairly.”

The mark also limits the money U.S. Space Command can use to build or renovate buildings “for temporary or permanent use” until a permanent location for the command’s headquarters is chosen. The choices include Colorado, where it is now, and Huntsville.

Ohio lawmakers are also making an 11th-hour case for the Buckeye State.

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