By Mike Gruss
The White House has made two significant policy changes in the past week as the Trump administration seeks to reshape the space community and the federal workforce.
On Thursday, the White House moved to eliminate employee unions at NASA citing national security. Then Tuesday, Trump announced the long-anticipated relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama. The move reverses a 2023 decision by President Joe Biden to keep the command in Colorado.
Let's look at the union decision first.
In an Aug. 28 executive order, the White House said it was adding several agencies to a list that are exempted from federal collective bargaining rights under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. NASA was among the agencies included, along with the office that manages and operates Earth observation satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The order cited a provision that gives the president the authority to exempt agencies from the act's protections if they have "as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work."
Little of what NASA does is generally considered to fall under national security. A union official called it "a bogus national security rationale." The change eliminates collective bargaining protections, which could include how employees are fired or laid off.
Then Tuesday, Trump announced the long-anticipated relocation of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama, reversing a 2023 decision by President Biden to keep the command in Colorado.
Space Command oversees missions ranging from space situational awareness and missile warning to satellite communications and integrating space into joint military operations.
Trump said his opposition to Colorado's use of mail-in voting played into his decision to shift the headquarters to Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal. He also praised the Rocket City's status as a hub of space activity, calling it central to the development of the Golden Dome missile defense shield.
The relocation is projected to move about 1,600 military and civilian jobs from Colorado to Alabama. While uniformed personnel would be required to relocate, Colorado lawmakers have warned that many civilian employees may choose note, creating potential gaps in institutional knowledge and disruptions to operations.
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