A meeting about the Space Command headquarters last week led to sharp words by Alabama’s congressional delegation toward Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, authorized by the White House to determine the permanent home for the command.

Congressman Dale Strong, R-Monrovia, described the contentious meeting Thursday in an interview with AL.com.

Related: Alabama Rep. Aderholt moves to freeze federal spending on Space Command HQ in Colorado

Strong said Kendall, who was accompanied by Space Command Commanding Gen. James Dickinson at the meeting, informed the delegation that he wanted to “re-evaluate a few things” regarding the search to identify the best site for Space Command’s permanent home.

Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal, of course, has long been determined by multiple reviews as the best site while Colorado Springs, Colo. – the seeming rival to Alabama’s bid to land Space Command and the site of the start-up command – finished fourth and fifth in different evaluations. It’s at least the second time in recent months Kendall has alluded to changes in the search process, saying in March that the Air Force was doing “additional analysis” on the search process.

Strong described the reaction in the room to Kendall’s announcement of a re-evaluation.

“He got lit up from every corner from Terri Sewell to Robert Aderholt to Mike Rogers to me,” Strong said, referring to Alabama colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives. “It looks like Gen. Dickinson and the secretary of the (Air Force) have got their own dice game going on. And it appears they’re trying to put their thumb on the scale. And that’s a hard process to beat in my book.

“But I know one thing, he got his money’s worth from Alabama delegation about the process that they’re intervening in. And it appears that it’s Gen. Dickinson and the secretary doing it themselves.”

The meeting deteriorated to the point that Strong said when it ended, he walked out with Rogers – chair of the House Armed Services Committee – and said, “We need to start an investigation right now. Let’s see what these text messages and emails between the secretary and the generals (say). Let’s find out what’s going on because, obviously, they’ve got something that they’re doing but no one else has got the same ability.”

Rogers announced last week that the House Armed Services Committee is launching an investigation into the changing criteria for Space Command HQ. The concern for Alabama lawmakers is that arrangements are being made to bolster Colorado Springs’ candidacy while the same arrangements are not available for Redstone Arsenal.

“The fact is, the Air Force already made the correct decision well over two years ago,” Rogers, a Republican from Saks, said in a statement last week. “That decision was affirmed by the GAO and the DoD Inspector General over a year ago. This decision was based on multiple factors, and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama was the clear winner in the evaluation and selection phase. I am deeply concerned that the continued delays in making this move final are politically motivated and damaging to our national security.”

Asked if Kendall shared in the meeting what would go into that re-evaluation, Strong said, “He just said that he wanted to get some more information from Gen. Dickinson. And then that’s when (comments from the delegation) came from every angle. And then we said, ‘Well, who’s making the decision? Are you making the decision or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?’ And that’s when he said that he would be making the decision. But then also, we’ve been told multiple times that the decision would be made soon, it will be made. And this is how far this has drug along.”

The Air Force announced in January 2021 that Redstone Arsenal was the preferred site for Space Command.

“You can take that in any direction you want to take it,” Strong said of the re-evaluation. “I don’t know what they could possibly re-evaluate, to take the fifth-place site and move it to No. 1. So we’re just like everybody else. I think that it’s somewhat baffling for him to say that he’s re-evaluating a few things. If they’re going to let Colorado change the process just for them, I think that it is very suspect. And I think it puts a big black cloud over this process.”

Asked if he believed the re-evaluation process is ongoing to benefit Colorado Springs, Strong said, “I think the thing I want to know is if they’re re-evaluating, what is that? They’re maybe trying to classify some property that they got under lease or something of that nature. And that’s why we called for the investigation.”

Strong said he told Rogers after the meeting that he believed Kendall was dodging questions from the delegation.

“And you know, when somebody won’t look you in the eye, it makes it suspect anyway,” Strong said.