Colorado AG sues Trump administration over Space Command relocation to Alabama

John Aguilar, The Denver Post on Oct 29, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued the Trump administration Wednesday to challenge the president’s decision last month to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.

At the top of his list of reasons for taking the legal action, Weiser said during an online news conference, was President Donald Trump publicly citing Colorado’s mail-in balloting system as a “big factor” in his decision to authorize the relocation of the facility. It will move from Peterson Space Force Base to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama in coming years.

“We are filing this lawsuit today in federal District Court in Denver to challenge a decision to move Space Command as a form of punishment, because Colorado chooses to exercise its authority to have a mail-in voting system,” he said. “This action is unconstitutional because in our Constitution, the executive branch isn’t allowed to punish, retaliate or seek to coerce states who lawfully exercise powers that are reserved to them.”

Those powers held by Colorado, Weiser said, include the authority to “oversee the time, place and manner of elections.”

Trump announced the relocation of U.S. Space Command from the White House on Sept. 2. As part of his remarks, he said: “The problem I have with Colorado ... they do mail-in voting, they went to all-mail-in voting, 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, because that’s what that means.”

Within minutes of that announcement, Weiser said his office would file suit to attempt to block it.

Weiser, during his Wednesday news conference, said he took action now in hopes that a judge would “put a pause” on any action.

“Our objective here is to make sure that while this lawsuit is pending, no actions happen, and in many of the lawsuits that we filed, that is one of the forms of relief we’ve been able to obtain,” he said of the dozens of lawsuits his office has filed to challenge varying Trump actions.

Weiser, who is running as a Democratic candidate for Colorado governor next year, said the suit filed Wednesday was Colorado’s 41st against the Trump administration since the Republican president took office for a second term in January.

The permanent location of Space Command headquarters — which is responsible for the nation’s military operations in outer space — has been a political hot potato since the end of Trump’s first administration. His successor, Democrat Joe Biden, opted not to act on Trump’s initiation of a move to Huntsville, citing the potential disruptions to Space Command.

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce estimates that Space Command supports nearly 1,400 direct jobs and has a $1 billion impact on the Colorado Springs economy. The state has a significant Space Force presence, hosting half the bases with its major operations, including Peterson as well as Schriever Space Force Base in the Colorado Springs area and Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora.

Space Command’s functions include conducting operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication and providing warning of missile launches.

_____