During his campaign, Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Col., strongly opposed President Trump’s plan for a new Space Force military service. The House Armed Services subcommittee chairman was defeated Tuesday night by Democrat Jason Crow.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a senior member of Senate Armed Services, had opposed a space service for the past year and said it would never become a reality.
Now, Nelson is fighting for his political life as what appears to be a very slim loss to Florida Gov. Rick Scott goes to a mandatory recount.
The midterm elections may knock out two of the most high-profile Space Force opponents in Congress, but the coming fight over creating the service branch will be bigger than any two lawmakers and will likely come down to the newly aligned leadership in the House and Senate.
The House Armed Services Committee has been a driving force behind the reorganization of military space operations, which supporters say is needed to protect U.S. satellites from the advancing offensive capabilities of China and Russia.
The elections may reverse that by handing a House majority to the Democrats.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., a staunch Space Force foe, is now the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee but is expected to take the chairman’s gavel when his party takes over in January.
“What I oppose is a separate branch. I don’t think a separate branch makes sense,” Smith said in September. “What is the most cost effective way to give space the emphasis it deserves. I know it is not a Space Force.”
The new House Armed Services majority is likely to rally around Smith’s skepticism and concerns about cost, which could run into the billions of dollars but has yet to be tallied by the Pentagon.
The Trump administration plans to submit a request in February for the House and Senate armed services committees to create the service as part of their 2020 defense policy bill.
But the House Armed Services lawmakers who originally created and fostered the space service idea — before Trump began touting it to rally crowds — are not going anywhere.
On Tuesday, Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., easily won re-election. The two led the Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee that oversees military space operations.
The two have been outspoken on the need for a space service for two years, sometimes appearing together to push for the reform.
Even with the House shift to a Democrat majority the two could remain in control of the subcommittee and retain a strong hand in the coming Space Force debate, barring any shakeup of committee membership next year.
On the Senate Armed Services Committee, a possible Nelson departure could weaken any resistance to Trump’s Space Force but the panel has already been easing up on earlier skepticism of the plan.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who took over as chairman after John McCain’s death in August, is a strong ally of the president and said he is warming to the idea of a separate space service after discussions with the Pentagon.
