President Biden has so far undone a litany of former President Donald Trump's actions.
The border wall? Stopped. The transgender military ban? Undone.
But one thing from the Trump administration is here to stay: the Space Force.
The Space Force was established on Dec. 20, 2019, when Trump signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
Trump wasn't the first president to explore establishing a space force. President Ronald Reagan explored the idea early in his first term, and the idea of a separate military branch dedicated to space can be traced back to 1945 when General of the Army Henry H. Arnold, then the commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Forces, created a report emphasizing the need for investment in space and ballistic missile capabilities in the aftermath of World War II.
But it wasn't until 2017 when Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn. 5th District) and Mike Rogers (R-Ala. 3rd District) led a bipartisan effort in the House to establish the United States Space Corps as a separate military service within the Department of the Air Force. The proposal sat in Congress for roughly a year until Trump took it on as a pet project of sorts in 2018.
Trump's interest in creating the Space Force turned it into a pop culture phenomenon. His campaign sold Space Force merchandise and the president even suggested his wife Melania design the uniforms. Netflix spoofed the commotion around the idea into a comedy series starring Steve Carell, aptly titled Space Force.
Space Force Established
Despite all the cultural eye-rolling, and thanks to the efforts of members of Congress getting the Space Force into the yearly defense spending bill for FY 2020, the Space Force has now existed for over a year and a half.
It has a full-fledged bureaucracy with over 6,000 personnel and 77 spacecraft, working primarily on defending military satellites, operating the network of GPS satellites, and tracking space debris.
The Space Force has integrated seamlessly into the rest of the military structure. The precursor to the Space Force, Air Force Space Command, existed for decades within the Air Force, so that's not entirely surprising. But regardless, the force now has its own place in the structure.
In a recent viral moment, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the Defense Department's 2022 budget request. In the clip, Milley defends the teaching of critical race theory at the military academies because of his belief that the people defending the country should be widely read and have a full understanding of their country.
"It's important that we understand that," Milley said, "because our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and guardians, they come from the American people. So it is important that the leaders now and in the future do understand it."
That the highest-ranking person in the military listed the "guardians" of the Space Force alongside the long-established members of the other branches speaks to how integrated the newest branch is as far as the military is concerned.
Biden Backs Branch
President Biden has been supportive as well. From an aesthetic standpoint, the Space Force flag stands alongside the flags of the other branches behind the president when he speaks.
But even from a policy standpoint, the president supports the Space Force. He's requested an additional $2.2 billion in funding for the Space Force in his budget proposal for FY 2022. Much of that funding comes from transfers from the other branches and will be used to invest in new space systems.
"Competitors like China and Russia are challenging America's advantage in space by aggressively developing offensive weapons to deny or destroy U.S. space capabilities in conflict," the Pentagon said in budget proposal documents. The president's budget "funds capabilities for the contested domain of space," the documents read in part.
And even in public, the administration's stance is supportive. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated the president's support earlier this year after she faced allegations from Rogers, the Alabama Republican who led the charge for the Space Force in Congress, of being flippant or dismissive of the Space Force.
"We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work," Psaki tweeted in February.
It's safe to say the Space Force is here to stay.
