Washington, D.C. — Today, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper alongside Colorado U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Brittany Pettersen, Yadira Caraveo, and Jason Crow released the following statement regarding House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers’ (R-Ala.) decision to not approve Department of Defense (DoD) reprogramming requests, which would support military personnel pay and high-priority defense operations.

“Congressman Mike Rogers has decided to not approve hundreds of millions of dollars for our servicemembers and our nation’s most vital defense programs. This is outrageous.

“This legislative hostage-taking is unconscionable and must stop. 

“We urge the Biden Administration to make a final Space Command basing decision and believe that any assessment rooted in national security will keep Space Command in Colorado.”

Chairman Rogers has not approved pending DoD reprogramming requests, which DoD routinely sends to Congress to allow the Department to move funds to key programs within its budget. Rogers’ hold appears to be an effort to pressure the U.S. Air Force to release its basing decision for U.S. Space Command’s headquarters.