White House press secretary Jen Psaki ridiculed a reporter Tuesday for asking a question about the future of Space Force under President Joe Biden.
“Wow, Space Force. It’s the plane of today,” she replied wryly to a question from Bloomberg News reporter Josh Wingrove. “It is an interesting question.”
By referring to America’s sixth military branch as a “plane,” Psaki appeared to be dismissing the importance of the question.
Her response drew criticism from Defense One journalist Kevin Baron on Twitter .
“‘It’s the plane of today,’ is Psaki’s way of snarking at WH press questions about things they. think are silly, like Air Force 1’s paint scheme, — so that’s where Space Force ranks with them, apparently,” he wrote, suggesting that her flippant response showed that the Biden White House had “given ZERO consideration” to the future of the program.
Psaki admitted that she did not even know who was the point of contact for Space Force at the White House.
“I will find out and see if we have any update on that,” she concluded.
Space Force was formed by Congress in 2019 at the request of former President Donald Trump. His administration requested $15.4 billion for the military branch in the 2021 budget request.
Although the left has repeatedly mocked the concept of Space Force (and even created a critically panned Netflix show to make fun of it) it will likely remain a branch of the military.
But Biden did not make space force a prominent issue during the presidential campaign, leaving many wondering what, if anything, he would change about it’s future.
Ending Space Force would require an act of Congress, which would not likely occur as long as it serves as a vehicle to get more defense spending to the military.
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