Huffman Introduces Bill to Abolish Wasteful Space Force

September 22, 2021

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) introduced the No Militarization of Space Act, to abolish the costly and unnecessary Space Force. This comes as Congress moves to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that authorizes funding for the Pentagon.

“The long-standing neutrality of space has fostered a competitive, non-militarized age of exploration every nation and generation has valued since the first days of space travel. But since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. 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.” 

“The Space Force has quickly become a taxpayer boondoggle that adds layers of bureaucracy and waste to an already-bloated defense budget. Representative Huffman’s legislation would eliminate the Space Force before it’s too late to do so, possibly saving taxpayers billions of dollars in the process. NTU applauds Representative Huffman for introducing this bill,” said Andrew Lautz, Director of Federal Policy at National Taxpayers Union.

“Outer space must be de-militarized and kept as a realm strictly for peaceful exploration," stated Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action. “The Space Force is an absurd, duplicative waste of taxpayer dollars, and richly deserves the ridicule it has garnered. Peace Action, the largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization in the US, commends and endorses Rep. Huffman's ‘No Militarization of Space Act’ to abolish the Space Farce.”

"Militarizing space is an unconscionable waste of billions of tax dollars, and it risks extending the worst mistakes of history to the final frontier by inviting conflict and escalation. Americans don't want more wasteful military spending, which means Congress should pass the No Militarization of Space Act before the Space Force budget inevitably skyrockets," said Sean Vitka, senior policy counsel for Demand Progress.

“This legislation would put an end to the ill-considered rush into establishing a new military service, the Space Force, and save taxpayers billions of dollars in unnecessary spending. Eliminating Space Force in a year and transferring all authorities and functions back to the appropriate commands of the Armed Forces is the most fiscally responsible thing to do. To be clear, the U.S. must be a leader in space, but creating a whole new service wasn’t going to accomplish that; it was just going to create a costly new bureaucracy,” said Steve Ellis, President, Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Background

The U.S. Space Force was established on December 20, 2019 with enactment of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act – despite the country’s commitment under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which restricts the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space and banned military maneuvers on celestial bodies. U.S. military spending topped nearly $704 billion dollars in fiscal year 2021 including a staggering $15.5 billion for the Space Force. The Space Force also unnecessarily duplicated much of the existing work within the Air Force including that of Space Command, thereby creating bureaucratic confusion and further waste and risking American and allied national security.

Text of the legislation can be found here.

Huffman was joined in the introduction by Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), and Maxine Waters (CA-43).

This legislation is endorsed by Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union, Peace Action, R Street Institute, and Demand Progress.