It is common for candidates-elect to flex their muscles, and their mouths, as they prepare for office, test their policy proposals and remind voters who and what they voted for.
In a bit of whiplash and Faustian déjà vu we are here again with two proposals to move the U.S. Space Command to Alabama and the BLM back to Grand Junction.
To be fair, Biden flexed, too, in 2021 when he moved the BLM headquarters back to Washington, and in 2023 when he reversed Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Space Command, which has been in Colorado Springs since 2019. But those actions involved serious thought and public engagement, tribal and elected official consultation.
Current conversation among Trump and Alabama’s congressional delegation have little to do with what is best for national security, rather politics and shifting federal jobs and resources to a Trump-friendly southern state home to loyalists like Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
With Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) representing Colorado Springs, who did not seek reelection to the House, and his successor Jeff Crank (R-Colo.), both fiercely opposing the move, things are teeing up for a fight among their own.
The Alabama delegation cites a strong aerospace industry as a reason to move, but theirs pales in comparison to the dominance Colorado Springs’ exerts as a longtime strategic hub for national security and space operations.
The Springs is home to over 200 space, aerospace and defense companies, the U.S. Airforce Academy, four military installations including an Army and two Space Force bases, the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command headquarters.
We have seen the serious disruption that moving the BLM Headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction caused in 2020. That move did not deliver the hundreds of jobs promised across the West and drove hundreds of staff members from the agency. Of the 328 positions moved out of D.C., only 41 people relocated, with three moved to Grand Junction, resulting in a significant loss of institutional memory and talent.
In 2021, the Biden administration appropriately returned the agency to Washington where all other land management agencies have a leadership presence to ensure they have access to the policy-, budget- and decision-making, stakeholders and others they need to best carry out their mission. The agency retained a presence in Grand Junction converting the national headquarters to a new stronger Western headquarters. Already, 94% of BLM staff members work in a field, district or state office.
Trump is again talking about reversing Biden’s decision and with it creating the characteristic chaos we came to know in his first term. Newly elected Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) from Grand Junction supports the move. As does Gov. Jared Polis.
Hurd says he hopes to be a representative who will listen and engage.
The Herald’s editorial board strongly encourages our elected officials to stop playing political football with important government agencies and their missions.
As we have already experienced, disruption and destruction may be their political end. This is no way to serve our country and the important functions our agencies and staff members play in national security and public lands management.
