DENVER (KDVR) — Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation seemingly cheered the results of a report issued by the Department of Defense Inspector General that examined whether U.S. Space Command should remain in Colorado Springs.

“Today’s report from the Department of Defense Inspector General confirms what we have long known: keeping U.S. Space Command in Colorado is the best decision to protect America’s national security,” the senators and representatives said in a joint release.

The delegates who issued the statement include Reps. Jason Crow, Diana DeGette, Brittany Pettersen and Joe Neguse, as well as Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. The report discusses how moving U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs would put the operations into temporary facilities elsewhere, which the report said would take three to four years to have “the same mission-critical networks available in Colorado Springs.”

“U.S. Space Command’s HQ in Colorado Springs has been at Full Operational Capability since December 2023. Any relocation of U.S. Space Command’s headquarters would threaten our military readiness, cost years of valuable time and resources, and result in an irreversible loss of personnel and expertise,” the Colorado delegates said. “As our nation’s adversaries are rapidly developing their own space capabilities, we don’t have time to waste. The decision to keep Space Command in Colorado was the right one and will ensure continued operations to safeguard America’s national security.

“We’ll continue to fight to protect America’s national security interests by keeping the U.S. Space Command in Colorado,” the group’s statement concluded.

President Donald Trump created the U.S. Space Force when signing a defense bill into law in December 2019. In 2021, the Air Force looked at the Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the permanent U.S. Space Command location. But a temporary headquarters had already been established in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after multiple delays, President Joe Biden announced it as the permanent headquarters.

Crow has been at the forefront of fighting to keep the U.S. Space Command located in Colorado and has long said that keeping the headquarters in the state is in the best interest of national security.

“Space Command has reached full operational capability and moving it would disrupt its operations and growth, putting our troops and country at risk. Colorado has the workforce and infrastructure to ensure its success,” Crow said in a statement published in November 2024.

Alabama federal delegates have accused the Biden Administration of politicizing the headquarters locations, but Colorado is home to many Air Force and Space Force facilities.

The controversy over the basing decision began seven days before Trump’s first term expired, when his Air Force secretary announced Alabama would be home to Space Command, pending an environmental review.

That review was completed about six months into Biden’s term and found no significant impact with hosting the command in Alabama. But the new administration did not act on the decision.

Instead, a year later, the Biden White House said it was keeping the headquarters in Colorado Springs, citing the time that would be lost relocating staff and the headquarters to Huntsville.

The report said interviews have been requested with Biden’s Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to understand why Huntsville was not named, but the Biden White House would only allow the interviews if administration lawyers were present. The inspector general rejected that condition, saying it could affect its unfettered access to information.