January 26, 2021 10:09 AM UTC

Has "Worthless" Doug Lamborn's Star Finally Fallen?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Two Republican members of Congress from Colorado stand accused of helping incite violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th by joining the dead-ender objections to elector slates from Arizona and Pennsylvania. One of them, Rep. Lauren Boebert, has become the focus of nationwide scrutiny for her actions before and during the attack on the Capitol. The other, Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, has had much less to say than Boebert in the aftermath.

But as the Colorado Springs Gazette’s Erin Prater reports, Lamborn is back on the record again under the new President Lamborn tried to prevent from taking office–trying to reverse ex-President Donald Trump’s last-minute awarding of the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama in what’s been widely characterized as political payback to Trump loyalists in that state:

Colorado Springs Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn has joined a pair of senior congressional Democrats in calling for the Pentagon’s watchdog to investigate the role of political influence in the Trump administration’s decision to uproot U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs.

“I’m going to be insisting on making sure the inspector general’s office can do an investigation on what went into this decision,” Lamborn, who serves as a ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, told The Gazette on Friday. “There were some, I think, unacceptable political pressures that were brought to bear on this basing decision. [Pols emphasis] We need to uncover that.”

It’s nice that Rep. Lamborn is crying foul over this adverse decision in such clear terms, and he has plenty of company among Colorado’s congressional delegation, Gov. Jared Polis, and officials without ties to either state who looked at this decision and saw corruption to benefit Alabama Republicans who stood by Trump to the end.

But that’s the rub: Lamborn stood with Trump right to the end too, but unlike Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Lamborn has nothing to show for it. We don’t generally cite letters to the editor, but this Gazette LTE from a Colorado Springs resident summed up the point quite well:

We should recognize the lack of political pull that Congressman Lamborn has [Pols emphasis] had during this administration and his poor choice in supporting the “Stop the Steal” campaign.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, generally considered a weak-minded Republican benchwarmer who can be counted on to reliably vote in accordance with the wishes of the powerful defense contractor interests in his district, has regularly faced spirited primary challenges for his safe Republican seat centered on arch-conservative El Paso County. Looking ahead to 2022, Lamborn now faces a backlash from corporate donors looking to punish Republicans who helped Trump set the stage for violence on January 6th. At the same time, Lamborn has to reckon with his own perceived ineffectiveness after losing Space Command despite his canine loyalty to Trump.

Doug Lamborn has weathered many challenges over the years, and held on to his seat by inertia.

But as ex-Rep. Scott Tipton can tell you, that may not be good enough anymore.