The Pentagon is diverting $8 million in construction money from Peterson Air Force Base to help pay for fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The military said Wednesday a planned space control facility at Peterson is among 127 projects that will be delayed or eliminated to shift $3.6 billion to the border barrier sought by President Donald Trump.
Peterson, in Colorado Springs, will be the initial home of the Pentagon's new Space Command, but it wasn't immediately clear whether the space control facility was part of that operation. The base is already home to other units with space operations, including missile warnings.
Colorado officials are lobbying the military to make Peterson the permanent home of the Space Command.
The diversion of funds comes after Colorado's Republican Senator Cory Gardner was assured by the Trump administration earlier this year that no 2019 fiscal year money would be diverted from the state's military bases, according to the Colorado Sun. The site reported though, that the $8 million comes from 2018 fiscal funds.
Colorado's Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who is running for president, issued a statement calling the move "selfish," saying that, "Taking money from operational priorities to pay for a wasteful and ineffective wall is grossly irresponsible and undermines our national security."
Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn, whose district includes Peterson Air Force Base, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that he supports building the border wall but doesn't like that the money is being diverted from military projects.
