A senior member of the House’s Armed Services Committee asked the White House press secretary to “apologize immediately” for his response to a Space Force question during a news conference on Tuesday.
Alabama Republican MP Mike Rogers was offended by Jen Psaki’s joking response to a question about the future of the Space Force under the Biden administration.
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“Wow. Space Force. It’s today’s plane,” said Psaki, seeming to compare the question to a question asked by a reporter two weeks ago, asking about Air Force One’s color scheme.
“It’s an interesting question,” she said after the reporter countered the validity of the question. “I’m happy to check with our point of contact in the Space Force. I’m not sure who it is. I’ll find out and see if we have any updates on this.”
The Space Force was enacted by Congress in December 2019 as an extension of the U.S. armed forces and aims to protect U.S. special interests in space capabilities.
“It is worrying to see the press secretary of the Biden government shamelessly shrink an entire branch of our armed forces as a joke joke, which I am sure China will find funny,” Rogers said in a statement.
“The Space Force was passed with almost unanimous support in Congress, the same kind of ‘unity’ that President Biden is supposedly working on,” he added. “Jen Psaki needs to apologize immediately to the men and women of the Space Force for this shameful comment.”
Biden did not publicly comment on the newest military force formed during the Trump administration. But several lawmakers see the Space Force as a continuation of US efforts to combat China’s growing presence.
“While the Biden administration continues to wonder whether the [Chinese Communist Party] is a threat, China is working overtime to become the dominant force in space, “said Representative Mike Waltz, R-Fla., one of the founding members of the Caucus Space Chamber, on Tuesday.
“We need professionals [at Space Force] to keep American’s safe, “he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News for comment, but Psaki used Twitter to observe the Space Force’s “important work”, although the White House press secretary did not include an apology.
“We hope to continue the work of the Space Force and invite team members to visit us in the instruction room at any time to share an update on their important work,” she said.
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Although the Space Force was founded and passed on a bipartisan base, the newest military branch has been seen as a point of party discussion, as President Trump often applauded his efforts to push the specialized force during campaign rallies and events. last year.
The Space Force also caught the attention of Hollywood and spawned a Netflix series with Steve Carell, who scoffs at an inept administration that pushes the newest military branch to place an active military force on the Moon by 2024.