{"id":14589,"date":"2018-11-05T20:55:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T20:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:27:11","slug":"midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/","title":{"rendered":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump has ordered<\/a> the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in midterms on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the flip side, two key Space Force opponents on Capitol Hill are facing tough battles to hold onto their seats: Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Republican Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to take the administration on for Space Force,\u201d Coffman, chairman of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, told the newspaper Westworld<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president wants to create a whole new department of space, and if that requires authorizing language in the Armed Services Committee, I expect to lead the effort to kill that in committee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffman had represented his suburban Denver district for a decade, but it went to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. And this year, he has worked to distance himself from the president \u2014 over immigration, gun laws and Space Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffman said he could support a \u201cspace corps\u201d subordinate to the Air Force, but he told Defense News<\/a> in September that Trump\u2019s Space Force proposal is \u201ca really bad idea\u201d that would reverse gains in trimming Pentagon bureaucracy \u201cfor no real value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel confident we can block this. The president will not have the votes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Coffman is in danger. He faces Democrat Jason Crow in a district that Clinton carried by 9 points in 2016. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC backed by House GOP leadership, cut its spending in September \u2014 an ominous sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Florida, home to Air Force Space Command\u2019s 45th Space Wing, Nelson has ripped Trump\u2019s plan to shake up the status quo. Nelson is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee, a former astronaut and a key voice on space policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president told a US general to create a new Space Force as 6th branch of military today, which generals tell me they don\u2019t want,\u201d Nelson wrote on Twitter, after Trump made an initial announcement in June. \u201cThankfully the president can\u2019t do it without Congress because now is NOT the time to rip the Air Force apart. Too many important missions at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence campaigning for Nelson\u2019s GOP challenger, Gov. Rick Scott, Nelson was holding onto a slim lead into Tuesday\u2019s vote. In an NBC\/Marist poll<\/a> released Monday, Nelson would gets 50 percent of the vote and Scott would get 46 percent, a narrow 4-point lead for Nelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 12: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) speaks to members of the media after the weekly Senate Democratic Policy Luncheon May 12, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Democrats held the weekly luncheon to discuss Democratic agenda. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The administration is expected to seek approval from Congress, where Nelson and Coffman have not been alone in their skepticism. A major reorganization of the military would have to be authorized by the annual defense policy bill, which is hammered out each year by both chambers\u2019 armed services panels, and funded through both chambers\u2019 appropriations bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the House falls under Democratic control, as is widely projected, it would make a vocal opponent of Space Force \u2014 Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. \u2014 the HASC chairman. Currently the ranking Democrat, Smith came out against Trump\u2019s proposal in a statement in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am concerned that his proposal would create additional costly military bureaucracy at a time when we have limited resources for defense and critical domestic priorities, and I do not believe it is the best way to advance U.S. national security,\u201d he said. “We must do a better job of dealing with space as a national security priority. I will continue to work toward a smarter, more effective approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith\u2019s counterpart on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in August<\/a> that Space Force \u201cis not the way to go.\u201d While the GOP is expected to retain control of the Senate, Reed and Smith could join forces in defense policy bill negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson led the opposition last year when a bipartisan proposal for a space corps that predated Trump\u2019s proposal was cut from the 2018 defense policy bill, despite support from HASC leaders, including Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas. That proposal was for a new service subordinate to the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, the Strategic Forces Subcommittee chairman who proposed the idea then, has argued that the Air Force was prioritizing its fighter jets over space, and the U.S. needs a dedicated service to stay ahead of China and Russia in what many see as the next frontier of warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal is aimed at protecting American satellites, Rogers said, and \u201cnot George Jetson getting on a rocket coming out of his suitcase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Air Force leaders opposed the idea then, but they have publicly fallen in line behind the Trump administration<\/a>, which unveiled plans in August to establish the service by 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitol Hill skeptics, including Coffman, have found ammunition in an Air Force that estimates a new service would cost $13 billion over five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategic forces subpanel\u2019s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper, expressed during a recent Aspen Institute event<\/a> with Rogers skepticism of that estimate, which included a $1 billion headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Space Force proponent, Cooper also expressed hope Trump\u2019s support would not \u201cruin the debate\u201d over what he sees as a common-sense proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president\u2019s unexpected intervention needlessly politicized it,” Cooper said, \u201cbecause it\u2019s never been political.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home","election-2018"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home","middle-column","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[7,8,160,163,36,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-14589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-space-report","category-newsletters","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"EBVRKS6F6JBQDPP2J4ZVEOQKVU","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nMidterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 953,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Air Warfare\",\n\t \"Congress\",\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Military Space Report\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Space\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad - Defense News\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/05\\\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Congress\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"congress\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad - Defense News","description":"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad","og_description":"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00","author":"Joe Gould","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joe Gould","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad","datePublished":"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/"},"wordCount":953,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Congress","Daily News Roundup","Military Space Report","Newsletters","Space"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/","name":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-05T20:55:23+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:27:11+00:00","description":"President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to start work on a new, sixth military service dedicated to space, but that seems unlikely if Democrats take the House in the midterms.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/05\/midterms-could-crash-trumps-space-force-on-the-launch-pad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/","ad_zone":"congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Midterms could crash Trump\u2019s Space Force on the launch pad"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17233693573456.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14595,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14589\/revisions\/14595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14589"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}