How the decision on Space Command’s home will be made – POLITICO

If U.S. Space Command stays in Colorado, itll look like President Joe Biden is bending to the will of a blue state. If it moves to Alabama, hell be criticized for relocating a key military organization to a state that is enforcing a total abortion ban. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

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The Biden administration has a tough decision ahead: Where to place U.S. Space Command. Its currently based in Colorado, where it was reestablished under a temporary HQ in 2019. But former President DONALD TRUMP said its permanent home should be in Alabama. A furious review is going on within the Air Force about whether to reverse Trumps decision or abide by it.

Whenever its done, were told by two U.S. officials that the process will start with Air Force Secretary FRANK KENDALL briefing Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN on the result. Austin will then surely inform President JOE BIDEN about the decision, and its up to the commander in chief whether to weigh in. The officials were granted anonymity to detail an internal debate.

According to the people weve talked to, the White House still isnt sure which way the Air Force is leaning. No recommendation has been sent over to the National Security Council, so the administration is still a while away from decision time.

Were trying to take into consideration all possible factors that will affect [the] final decision, Kendall said in late April.

But when that time comes, Biden faces a no-win moment. If the command stays in Colorado, itll look like hes bending to the will of a blue state. If it moves to Alabama, hell be criticized for following Trumps lead and relocating a key military organization to a state that is enforcing a total abortion ban.

Those fraught politics are exacerbated by Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.), who is holding up military promotions over the Pentagons policy to assist service members seeking an abortion.

As POLITICO first reported in February, abortion politics have entered the Space Command debate. And now its possible that last years overturning of Roe v. Wade, which upended American society and roiled national politics, may be a reason why the review which was supposed to be completed in December is still ongoing.

Tubervilles office contends the hold on military nominations and the Space Command headquarters decision are completely separate. The senator has called for a basing decision for a year, long before the Pentagon implemented its abortion policy, a spokesperson said.

But the fight is even more complex, as Colorado Republicans who count themselves Trump allies and opponents of abortion rights argue moving Space Command to Alabama is a mistake driven by politics. Rep. DOUG LAMBORN (R-Colo.), whose district is home to Space Command (for now) in Colorado Springs, said he hopes that abortion would not play a role in this whole decision.

This is an interesting dichotomy, Lamborn told NatSec Daily of the political cross currents on the fight. And I happen to agree with Sen. Tuberville...that DoD should not be financing people going out and traveling to get abortions.

Lamborn instead argued that Air Force rankings placing Colorado Springs below Huntsville were flawed and very subjective. A top factor, he said, should be when Space Command becomes fully operational in Colorado, a milestone he predicted could happen in just a few months.

U.S. Sen. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-Colo.) said he believes the Biden administration is trying to make sure the decision as unpolitical as possible, and that Tubervilles holds arent part of the calculus. And to be clear, Hickenlooper believes the command should stay put.

Were almost at full operational capability. Theres no question that the country is better served to keep it where it is, Hickenlooper said. Were in a hostile engagement with various adversaries around the world, some of which have the capability to attack our assets in space. Its not the time to be moving things around.

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BREAKING: INTRUSION AT SULLIVANS HOME: A man entered national security adviser JAKE SULLIVANs home two weeks ago, per the Washington Posts CAROL LEONNIG and TYLER PAGER. Sullivan is guarded by the Secret Service, prompting questions about how the break in happened.

A U.S. official confirmed that Sullivans home was broken into but declined to offer any details.

BIDEN COULD CUT G-7 TRIP SHORT: The president will head to Japan this week to attend the G-7 summit but is considering canceling the remainder of his visit abroad to return to Washington and help oversee ongoing debt ceiling negotiations with congressional Republicans, our own JONATHAN LEMIRE and KELLY GARRITY report.

Were reevaluating the rest of the trip, National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY said today.

The president is scheduled to leave Wednesday for Hiroshima. He had planned to make visits afterward to Papua New Guinea before heading to the Quad Summit in Australia. The stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea were meant to affirm the U.S. commitment to the Pacific as Chinas influence in the region rises.

MOSCOWS EXCEPTIONAL ATTACK: Ukraine shot down six hypersonic missiles that Russia fired overnight in what Kyiv officials called an exceptional attack on the country, Reuters GLEB GARANICH and SERGIY KARAZY report.

Its the first time Ukraine has claimed to have intercepted a volley of Kinzhal missiles 18 total missiles were launched in the attack which Russia has previously said were essentially unstoppable. The missiles travel up to 10 times the speed of sound.

The latest assault was exceptional in its density the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time, SERHIY POPKO, head of Kyivs city military administration, said on Telegram.

As Russia ramps up aerial strikes, leaders from across Europe headed to Iceland on Tuesday for a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe, which aims to drum up support for Ukraine, the Associated Press DAVID KEYTON and RAF CASERT report. By the end of the summit on Wednesday, the group hopes to have the outline of a system that can track the damage Russian forces have caused in Ukraine, as well as a clear path for holding Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN accountable for his invasion of the nation.

CIA SEEKS RUSSIAN SPIES: The CIA is looking for well-connected Russians outraged by their countrys war against Ukraine to help the West, writes our own NICOLAS CAMUT.

The CIA wants to know the truth about #Russia, and we are looking for reliable people who know and can tell us that truth, the agency said in a statement published with a video on Telegram, urging Russians to safely contact the CIA through a link on the encrypted Tor browser which also allows access to the Dark Web.

The video is part of a wider initiative, developed by the U.S. intelligence agency, to capitalize on what they see as unprecedented resentment toward the war effort from the Russian public.

The invasion has ushered in a historic opportunity to have Russians come to us and deliver information the United States needs, according to an official who spoke to CNN, and was interviewed on the condition of anonymity.

GOP REAX TO DURHAM REPORT: Several likely and already-declared GOP presidential candidates weighed in on the Durham report, which criticized the FBI for its actions during the 2016 probe that scrutinized DONALD TRUMPs campaign and its alleged ties to Russia, as our own KIERRA FRAZIER reports. Heres what they had to say on television and social media:

TRUMP: THEY ARE SCUM, LIKE COCKROACHES ALL OVER WASHINGTON, D.C. he wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday.

RON DeSANTIS: It reminds us of the need to clean house at these agencies, as theyve never been held accountable for this egregious abuse of power, tweeted Monday night.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Shut down the FBI and yes, this is much more practical than it sounds, wrote on Twitter Monday night.

NIKKI HALEY: Heads need to roll over this. Anybody that touched it or had a part in it needs to be fired and every one of their senior managers needs to be fired, said on Fox News Tuesday morning.

ASA HUTCHINSON: This makes my call to reform the FBI and limit the breadth of its jurisdiction even more important. Great people. Just needs more focus and accountability, tweeted Monday night.

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BOLTONS BASHING: Former national security adviser JOHN BOLTON, who is weighing a GOP presidential bid, lambasted his old boss on a range of topics in a CNN appearance Tuesday morning. Here are the highlights:

On Trumps reputation worldwide: I have been in those rooms with him when he met with those leaders, I believe they think hes a laughing fool, he said, referring to the Russian, Chinese and North Korean leaders in particular.

On the Turkish election: Im afraid if [President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOAN] wins that there will be real damage done to the NATO alliance. I think we need to consider whether to suspend or even expel Turkey.

On the Durham report: I was struck at how much of Durhams report followed the Department of Justice Inspector General investigation of the investigation of Russia collusion. And I think Durham hit it on the head when he said there was a predisposition to investigate Trump.

NO MORE HACKING: The Biden administration announced a series of steps Tuesday cracking down on a Russian national alleged to have been involved in ransomware attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement organizations, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).

In two indictments unsealed Tuesday, the Justice Department alleged that Russian national MIKHAIL MATVEEV was involved in the creation of three major ransomware variants LockBit, Hive and Babuk which have been allegedly used by Matveev and other hackers to attack thousands of victims globally since 2020. According to the Justice Department, these attacks involved demands of around $400 million in ransomware payments, around half of which was paid by victims in an attempt to recover encrypted data.

The coordinated actions undertaken by the Justice, State and Treasury departments is part of a larger effort by the administration to address the wave of ransomware attacks on U.S. companies in recent years, and comes amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Russia around the invasion of Ukraine.

CHATGPT IN THE HOT SEAT: As countries around the world race to put guardrails on artificial intelligence, OpenAIs CEO made the case on Tuesday for Washington to do its part and regulate the powerful technology.

We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models, said SAM ALTMAN, whose company created chatbot tool ChatGPT, told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee during a hearing.

One of Altmans main areas of concern is with the ability for AI to influence voters, he said, because were going to face an election next year and these models are getting better.

Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) underscored that point with a fake recording of his own voice produced by AI, saying that it could have created an endorsement of Ukraines surrendering or Vladimir Putins leadership, which wouldve been really frightening.

Wheres Warren G when you need him?

DEVELOP STEM: Congress should make it easier for immigrants with advanced STEM degrees to get a green card to better compete with China in the technological realm, nearly 70 former national security leaders wrote to the House China Select Committees head honchos on Monday.

Bottlenecks in the U.S. immigration system endanger our national advantage by driving international science and engineering talent elsewhere, they wrote. The group made the proposal as part of a letter calling for Congress to invest in boosting STEM education.

MORE MILITARY MULAH: House Republicans are proposing to tack nearly $1 billion onto Bidens proposal for military infrastructure spending as part of the opening salvo in the annual appropriations process, our own CONNOR OBRIEN reports (for Pros!).

The fiscal 2024 military construction and veterans spending bill, released Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee, would allocate $17.7 billion for Pentagon infrastructure programs. The total is $1 billion more than Biden sought in his defense budget but would still be a $1.3 billion reduction from the current year. Bidens budget would have reduced military construction spending by $2.3 billion.

The bill is the first look at GOP designs for the Pentagon amid a partisan fight over spending cuts, though military construction is a small slice of the more than $800 billion defense budget.

KNIVES OUT FOR BLINKEN: Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) expects a resolution to hold Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN in contempt of Congress to advance along a party-line vote, he said in an interview with Punchbowl News MAX COHEN.

Itd be the first time a secretary of States ever been held in criminal contempt, I believe, said McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, adding that resolution could arrive on the House floor as soon as early June. And so I dont take it lightly.

In March, McCaul issued a subpoena to Blinken to hand over the unredacted version of a cable dissent document, written by U.S. diplomats in Kabul who criticized the Biden administrations messy exit from Afghanistan in 2021.

The chair said the information the State Department has turned over thus far is insufficient, and claimed the department is in violation of its legal obligation to produce these documents and must do so immediately. McCaul gave Blinken a new May 16 deadline to release the unredacted document.

A spokesperson for the department fired back in a briefing last month, and said the full document includes the personal information of the diplomats who wrote it, and that its full release could discourage future would-be authors.

CAMBODIAN OPPO PARTY OUT: Cambodia has disqualified the main opposition party for the countrys second parliamentary election in a row, eliminating the only competitive candidate running against Prime Minister HUN SEN.

The Candlelight Party was denied registration on Monday by the countrys National Election Commission for the July general election, the New York Times SETH MYDANS reports. The party had apparently failed to file required paperwork to enter.

That ruins any chance of changing Cambodias political makeup. Hun Sen, 70, has been in power for 38 years, and the Cambodian Peoples Party, which holds all 125 seats in parliament, has been dominant ever since its primary challenger the Cambodian National Rescue Party was dissolved by government-controlled courts in 2018. Many of those members joined the Candlelight Party after.

IAN STAPLES has been appointed as Rep. KATHERINE CLARKs (D-Mass.) national security adviser. Staples was most recently acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Senate affairs.

DAVID ANDELMAN, CNN: How will Russias war end? Zelenskyys representative in the U.S. has an unflinching view

Ret. Maj. Gen. JOHN FERRARI and CHARLES RAHR, Defense News: Give the Defense Innovation Unit a slice of Ukraine funds

GHAITH OMARI, Foreign Affairs: The Palestinian succession crisis

American Bar Association, the American University and Mayer Brown, 8 a.m.: Security in an Insecure World: National Security, Technology, and the Law

Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 8 a.m.: Preparing for a Post-Quantum Future

Center for Strategic and International Studies, 8:30 a.m.:A Conversation with Sir ANGUS HOUSTON, Co-Lead of Australias New Defence Strategic Review

Atlantic Council and Applied Intuition, 9 a.m.: NEXUS 23: A symposium at the intersection of defense, national security, and autonomy

House Homeland Security Committee, 9:30 a.m.: Chairman Green Announces Markup on Legislative Package

Senate Armed Services Committee, 9:30 a.m.:To receive testimony on the Role of Special Operations Forces in Supporting the National Defense Strategy, Including Activities that Contribute to Long-Term Strategic Competition with China and Russia

POLITICOs China Watcher, 10 a.m.: Too Little, Too Late? Does the U.S. have a China strategy?(With our own PHELIM KINE!)

Center for Strategic and International Studies, 10 a.m.: Allied Burden Sharing in Ukraine.

Korea Economic Institute of America, 10 a.m.:U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Relations and Integrated Deterrence

Hudson Institute, 12 p.m.: The Next Move in Ukraine: A Conversation with MICHAEL POMPEO

Washington institute for Near East Policy, 12 p.m.:Navigating the Dynamic Homeland Threat Landscape

Hudson Institute, 1 p.m.: American National Security and the Russian-Iranian War on Ukraine: A Conversation with Senator TED CRUZ

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2:30 p.m.: Carnegie Connects: Israel at 75 with Former Prime Minister EHUD BARAK

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2:45 p.m.: Hearings to examine the nominations of JENNIFER ADAMS, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde, HEATHER VARIAVA, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, and JULIE TURNER, of Maryland, to be Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, with the rank of Ambassador, all of the Department of State, and other pending nominations

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who keeps her reviews about us private.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who always makes the right decision.

A message from Lockheed Martin:

Unrivaled.

Information is the battlespace advantage. F-35 sensor fusion provides vast amounts of information to accelerate critical decisions and win the fight. Learn more.

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How the decision on Space Command's home will be made - POLITICO