Colorado’s hyper-litigious attorney general has filed so many lawsuits against the Trump administration, we’ve lost count. 

So, you may have missed AG Phil Weiser’s long-shot bid just last week for a court order to block the administration’s move of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala. 

But you can bet the president took notice.

President Trump announced in September that Space Command headquarters would move to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, reversing a 2023 decision by President Joe Biden. As reported by The Gazette, Weiser’s federal court lawsuit argues Trump’s decision may have been unconstitutional because it was intended to punish Colorado for its mail-in voting system and because it allegedly violated federal law requiring public notices and reports to Congress. The lawsuit is a lot of legal technicalities wrapped up in, at best, a Hail Mary.

Surely Weiser, a former law school professor, must know it’s a dog that won’t hunt. Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn around and bite the rest of us, instead.

For the Democratic Weiser, of course, it’s a crowd pleaser as he seeks higher office and feverishly courts his party’s faithful left wing in advance of next year’s primary. To the Democrats’ deep-blue base, no amount of Trump baiting is over the top; this lawsuit, like all the others, is just another kick in the shins to their party’s Public Enemy No. 1.

Yet, campaign tactics are a shortsighted substitute for sound strategic policy.

Whether or not Weiser likes it, the Trump administration has over three more years to go. Whatever Weiser’s prospects may be in next year’s election, his attempt to exploit Space Command makes him appear oblivious to our state’s longer-term future in serving the nation’s overall national security.

Colorado is expected to play a significant role in another massive, leading-edge project — the proposed Golden Dome U.S. missile defense system. Our state’s aerospace and tech sectors are poised for extensive investment in that groundbreaking endeavor.

The president has made Golden Dome his signature national defense project, and he will have a lot of say about how the effort ramps up. He may regard Space Command’s relocation a settled matter — even if we Coloradan’s don’t — but he no doubt appreciates Colorado’s singular place in U.S. national security in general. 

Colorado is home to NORAD, including Cheyenne Mountain; to Buckley, Peterson and Schriever Space Force bases; to the U.S. Air Force Academy and to Fort Carson — the list goes on. And that’s not to mention our state’s substantial defense industry supporting the wide-ranging missions of those installations.

Our focus as a state must be on developing and enhancing the relationships that advance Colorado’s historic mission as a cornerstone of our nation’s defense. That means working closely and productively with current and future presidential administrations in designing the architecture of our defense network — and deciding where its assets will be deployed.

Weiser’s attempt to weigh in on the future of Space Command comes awkwardly late in the game and makes it all the more obvious he’s playing politics. Where was he all the years the rest of us were fighting to keep it in Colorado?

The many deeply committed stakeholders across Colorado’s political and civic spectrum who have been advocating for Space Command don’t need a Johnny come lately barging in first now with some hastily scribbled legal briefs.

Keep your politics on the campaign trail, Mr. Attorney General, while the rest of us attend to our state’s true interests — and our nation’s defense.