President Joe Biden appears to be following his predecessor’s lead into space even after his press secretary seemed to mock Space Force.
Then: Earlier this month, Jen Psaki laughed off a reporter’s question about Biden’s plans for Space Force, a military branch created in 2019 at the urging of then-President Donald Trump.
- “Wow. Space Force. It’s the plane of today!” Psaki said at the Feb. 2 press briefing.
One of Trump’s proudest accomplishments, Space Force has been widely mocked on the left, even inspiring a Netflix comedy.
- Dozens of progressive groups have pushed Biden to kill the branch which would require congressional action.
Now: Amid backlash from Republican lawmakers, Psaki quickly walked back her dismissive comments and pledged the administration’s “full support” for Space Force.
- “We are not revisiting the decision to establish the Space Force,” she said, adding that the Pentagon’s focus on securing space is a bipartisan issue.
- A day later, Psaki said Biden supports NASA’s Artemis program to send humans back to the surface of the Moon.
“I’m very proud of the Biden administration for sticking with these very important measures,” said Jim Bridenstine, Trump’s NASA administrator, according to an Axios report on Tuesday.
- “My goal from day one was to create a program that was sustainable, that would be able to cross from one administration to the next.”
