A top House Republican demanded an apology from White House press secretary Jen Psaki for her response to a Space Force question during Tuesday's briefing.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, called on Psaki to "immediately apologize" for an apparent joke about Space Force, per Politico.
"It's concerning to see the Biden administration's press secretary blatantly diminish an entire branch of our military as the punchline of a joke, which I'm sure China would find funny," Rogers said.
"The Space Force was passed with near unanimous support in Congress, the same type of 'unity' President [Joe] Biden is supposedly working toward. Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment."
The United States Space Force Act, part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2020, was signed Dec. 20 under President Donald Trump. It created a new branch of the Armed Forces to protect military assets in space critical to our national security and our allies.
The act created an independent service branch by renaming and reorganizing Air Force Space Command into the U.S. Space Force.
During Tuesday's press briefing, Psaki was asked if Biden had made any decisions on Space Force's future.
"Wow, Space Force, it's the plane of today," said Psaki, who seemed to be comparing the question to an earlier one about Air Force One's color scheme. "It is an interesting question. I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact. I'm not sure who that is. I will find out and see if we have any update on that."
Rogers was not the only House Republican to criticize Psaki.
"This is just another example of the Biden administration not taking China seriously while demeaning the incredible work of Space Force personnel," said Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., founding member of the House Space Force Caucus.
Waltz said Space Force was established to protect national security and economic space missions from Chinese threats. Personnel named "guardians" operate the nation's GPS and missile warning satellites.
The Biden administration has been expected to maintain the Space Force because it would take congressional action to eliminate it.
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