Colorado sues Trump administration over plans to relocate US Space Command to Alabama's 'Rocket City'

Colorado's attorney general is suing the Trump administration over the White House's plans to move the headquarters of U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.

The White House announced its plan to move Space Command headquarters to Alabama at a press event in September 2025. During the event, Trump stated that Colorado's mail-in ballot policy played into his decision to relocate Space Command to Alabama. "The problem I had with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting, they went to all mail-in voting, so they have automatically crooked elections," Trump said. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Kamala Harris won Colorado by 11% in the 2024 presidential election.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced his decision to sue the administration on Wednesday (Oct. 29), citing Trump's justification. "This decision was not based on any formal criteria. It didn't follow the statutorily required evaluation process, didn't have any studies, reviews, or notice. It didn't offer validation or justification," Weiser said, according to Colorado Public Radio. "The Constitution does not permit the Executive Branch to punish or retaliate against states for lawfully exercising powers reserved for them, such as the power to regulate elections," Weiser added, according to Reuters.

U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) is responsible for overseeing and distributing space-based capabilities throughout the entire U.S. military.

The U.S. Space Force is its own branch of the U.S. Armed Forces that trains and equips personnel to "secure our national interests in, from, and to space," and some Space Force personnel are assigned to serve in Space Command alongside members of other branches of the U.S. military serving in space-facing units.

Space Command has been headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base (formerly Peterson Air Force Base) in Colorado Springs since its creation in 1982. Colorado Springs is also home to Schriever Space Force Base and the U.S. Air Force Academy, which serves as the officer training corps for the Space Force.

The U.S. Air Force selected Huntsville as the permanent home for U.S. Space Command in 2021 during Trump's first term, which drew criticism from Colorado lawmakers as being a political move.

Former President Joe Biden reversed that decision in 2023, citing the head of Space Command at the time, Gen. James Dickinson, who told Biden the move would "jeopardize military readiness," according to the Associated Press. That decision, too, was cited as being politically motivated. Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Biden's reversal "looks like blatant patronage politics."

And it looks like the relocation of U.S. Space Command continues to be a political tug-of-war. During the September press conference announcing the move, Trump also insinuated that the relocation was influenced by 2024's election results.

"I am thrilled to report that the U.S. Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known from this point forward as 'Rocket City,'" Trump said during the announcement on Sept. 2. "We love Alabama. I only won it by about 47 points. I don't think that influenced my decision, right?"