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Dems Plan To Scuttle Space Force

Jared Huffman, Rashida Tlaib aim to 'abolish' military branch

The Space Force flag / Getty Images
September 23, 2021

House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a measure in the 2022 defense budget to eliminate the Space Force.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D., Calif.) led a resolution, cosigned by fellow Democratic representatives Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), and Jésus García (Calif.), to "abolish" America's newest military branch. The measure received support from the Koch-funded National Taxpayers Union and radical anti-war groups such as Peace Action and Demand Progress.

"Since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars," said Huffman. "It's time we turn our attention back to where it belongs: addressing urgent domestic and international priorities like battling COVID-19, climate change, and growing economic inequality. Our mission must be to support the American people, not spend billions on the militarization of space."

Huffman and his allies are far-left on the vital issue of defense spending. Pocan in March proposed a major cut to the defense budget, but fellow Democratic caucus members shot it down. National security officials and experts have called President Biden's proposed defense budget insufficient to meet the challenges posed by Russia and China.

The House Armed Services Committee this month approved Republicans and some moderate Democrats' plan to increase the Biden defense budget by $24 billion.

The push to defund the Space Force comes as China increasingly threatens the United States. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said Monday that China is developing means to bombard American targets from space.

China has launched satellites and a space station, threatening American dominance in space. Simulated war drills show that Beijing would likely exploit American vulnerabilities in space as a first move in a takeover of Taiwan.