Rep. Crank addresses Space Command relocation in interview, hints about 'roadblocks'

WHAT REP. JEFF CRANK IS SAYING

Over a month after President Trump made the official announcement that Space Command would be relocated from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, Congressman Jeff Crank answered questions during an interview with KOAA to explain what’s next and what could still be done to keep it.

Rep. Crank, a Republican, campaigned heavily on keeping Space Command in his district. With the president’s decision to move it, some voters might question the ability of the Congressman to keep his campaign promises.

Crank said he and the entire Colorado delegation “fought hard” to keep it, but hinted they’re still politicking behind the scenes to draw out the process and possibly reverse the decision.

“I continue to talk to our two U.S. senators about ways that we might continue to try and throw some roadblocks in it,” said Rep. Crank. “Look, this is going to take a long time for them to execute. I think they will get down the road and find out that it's probably not as practicable as they thought.”

At the same time, much like in statements he’s released since the September 2 announcement, Crank attempted to spin the move as a positive development for Colorado.

“This is just such an opportunity to try and reach out and get other roles and missions to come to our community, and the future is bright for that,” said Crank. “I think five years from now, we're going to say, ‘Why were we fighting over that small of a piece of pie when the pie got so much bigger?’ And so, we really have to embrace that and look at it.”

In a joint statement on Sept. 5 with Colorado’s other elected Republicans, the representatives touted the area’s job loss wouldn’t be 1,700 like initially thought, but closer to 1,000 positions.

Crank pointed back to another statement he released Sept. 17 that said the White House is “committed to bringing new jobs and significant federal investment” in the military space, but he didn’t reveal many details.

“There are things coming. We [the White House] don't have anything to announce just yet, but they have assured me we've got some good things coming,” he said. “Might not be as quote unquote marquee as one unified command, but I think overall, we're going to see that the impact from the military grows in Colorado Springs.”

Despite the lack of specifics, he has spoken about Space Force’s regional presence increasing, and Colorado being involved in President Trump’s plans for a Golden Dome missile defense shield project.

Crank also said there is some legislative maneuvering that’s been happening in the House the last couple of weeks, but wouldn’t go into detail. He called them “sort of strategic.”

He then pointed to how Colorado’s two Democratic Senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, could enact a confirmation blockade, much like Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has done in recent years when he objected to various policies.

“Part of the reason Alabama ended up with the decision that they did is that they had a U.S. senator who basically put a hold on every nomination going through the United States Senate,” said Crank. “That's certainly something that one of our senators could do.”

RESPONDING TO TRUMP’S MAIL-IN VOTING ELECTION CLAIMS

During the official White House announcement on Sept. 2 about Space Command’s relocation to Alabama, the president launched a partisan attack on Colorado’s all-mail voting system and suggested that played into his decision.

“I will say I want to thank Colorado, the problem I have with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting. They went to all mail-in voting,” said Mr. Trump. “So, they have automatically crooked elections. And we can't have that. When a state is for mail-in voting, that means they want dishonest elections. That's what that means. That played a big factor also.”

The president’s false claims about mail-in voting fraud have been brought without evidence. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold previously told Scripps News Denver that Trump was using U.S. Space Command as a political pawn.

“It seems that Trump ultimately does not like the state of Colorado because Coloradans have rejected him three times in our free and fair elections,” said Griswold. “He seeks to blame, so he blames mail ballots instead of looking at his failing policies and then tries to punish the state.”

Congressman Crank, who won’t go so far as to openly criticize the president, did admit he disagreed with him.

“I think that he made what he thinks is the best military decision here. I don't think it was the best military decision,” he said. “I know he made the comment that he did. I kind of wished he hadn't because I think it's left in people's minds that that's what the decision was about.”

Crank alluded to Trump’s previous basing decisions made in 2021 to move Space Command to Alabama before the Biden administration kept it in Colorado, saying it wasn’t considered political reasoning at the time.

“I've talked to people who were in the room, they didn't feel that it was a political thing then, they just felt like he made the decision, they didn't agree with it,” said Crank. “So, I don't wanna question the motives, certainly of the president. I just don't agree with the decision that he made to move Space Command out of Colorado.”

Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper, in an interview just before the government shutdown, voiced a much stronger critique of Mr. Trump’s words against Colorado’s elections.

“[Trump’s] blaming it on the vote by mail, the Colorado's vote by mail. I mean, it is the best voting system. It was created by our Republican clerks. It's not a Democratic manufactured item,” said Hickenlooper. “It's a few mostly Republican clerks, and it's less expensive. It's a higher turnout, and you can do a statistical audit and prove that there's less fraud, less mistakes in the balloting than any other voting system, computers, whatever. So for him to blame that, it sounds to me like he's looking for a fall guy in case he loses another election.”

WHAT ELSE SENATOR HICKENLOOPER IS SAYING ABOUT SPACE COMMAND

Senator Hickenlooper said Colorado’s Congressional delegation doesn’t “have many cards” when it comes to blocking the Space Command relocation, but provided some insight into his efforts to keep it in the state.

“I kept trying to convince our four Republicans if they banded together on the continued resolution, the big tax bill, they could have stopped it. They can't lose four votes in the Republican majority in the House. They only have a majority of three, so we could have stopped it then,” said Hickenlooper.

He said they chose not to do so for a “variety of reasons,” and he wouldn’t criticize them for not using that chance to block the move. Hickenlooper simply said, moving forward, “I think we all have to work together now.”

“I think now we have to go and look, all right, they don't have the funding for it. It's going to cost probably a couple billion dollars. It's going to make our country weaker,” he said.

Hickenlooper said he was worried about losing highly skilled civilian staffers in the move and Space Command wouldn’t be at full operational capacity during a time of heightened international tensions.

“That's why it's so frustrating. I haven't worked harder on anything since I've been in the Senate,” said Hickenlooper. “And we knocked the doors down talking to the Air Force generals and everybody, and we turned over every rock and we won in the end. It was a long hard battle, but we won.”

He was referring to the Biden administration decision to keep Space Command in Colorado. Hickenlooper said he had hoped Trump would keep that decision in place.

Two days after Senator Hickenlooper’s interview with KOAA, his office sent a release addressing the Space Command move.

“While China and Russia are champing at the bit to win an advantage in space, it’s time for actual leadership to keep Americans safe. It puts all of us in danger to have a Commander-in-Chief who makes national security decisions based on what makes him look better or to punish people he doesn’t like,” the release said.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE SPACE COMMAND MOVE

During last week’s UCCS Economic Forum, program director Dr. Bill Craighead addressed the potential economic impacts if Space Command were to leave the city.

Craighead noted the number of moving factors and behind the scenes jockeying could mean Space Command’s move to Alabama might never fully come to fruition.

He said the actual number of jobs associated with the command itself is between one and two thousand high-paying, high-skilled jobs.

But he said the overall effect on the local economy wouldn’t be too significant.

“The key question I think is really what impact is this going to have on decisions made by defense contractors. By the private companies of the defense industry,” he said. “And that’s where I think being a region with a strong workforce and a region that is attractive to business and attractive to workers.”

He said business leaders looking for specialized and technical workers or operating in a location that’s easy to recruit makes the Pikes Peak region attractive for the defense companies regardless of the presence of Space Command.

“So I don’t see this as something that is devastating to us or going to dramatically change the course of our economy,” said Craighead. “But it is a bit of a bummer, to be sure.”

Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.

Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.

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