U.S. Rep. Dale Strong this week said he does not believe Huntsville would make a good headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Strong made the comments at a town hall meeting he conducted by phone on Tuesday.

The meeting came after some constituents complained that it was difficult to reach the congressman and address concerns about aggressive federal cuts made by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Strong’s town hall lasted a little less than an hour, where he fielded questions about several topics.

Protestors have called on Strong to meet with the community and address concerns about aggressive federal cuts made by DOGE.

Here are five takeaways:

1. Huntsville is booming, but it’s probably not the best place for an FBI headquarters.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and other congressional Republicans have stated support for moving the FBI headquarters to Redstone Arsenal.

Strong didn’t sound affirmative that such a move would happen.

“I’m just telling you right now, that’s not a good move for us nor for the government,” Strong said.

“But you start looking at it, we do all the accounting for the FBI, you look at the training that’s done here, I think that we will continue to do this. I think our finest hours are still ahead. I think the time I’ve been with the president, vice president, cabinet members, I just keep stressing the ability of what we can do here.”

The FBI did announce the transfer of 500 FBI workers to Huntsville earlier this year.

2. Strong says the Trump tariffs will improve the U.S. economy

Strong said adjusting the economy to President Trump’s latest slate of tariffs will be a “painful process,” but he expects good things in the end.

“What the president is trying to do is return those jobs that were previously in America back to America,” he said. “While this right here is painful, I do believe we’ve got to make this so it works for America. We shouldn’t be denied the ability to sell Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Germany, but yet we’re buying Mercedes from them. You see this all over the place.”

On Wednesday, Trump introduced tariffs on scores of nations, with a stated goal of encouraging more manufacturing to locate to the U.S. The news triggered seismic tremors in world markets.

“You watch what happens to our economy,” Strong said. “We’re fixing to explode.”

3. Strong supports an investigation into the Signal group chat

The congressman said the American people “deserve answers” on how a journalist for The Atlantic was added to a group text on a social media app in which Trump Administration officials discussed air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In his reporting, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said he was invited onto the chat by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to Goldberg, revealed specific plans in the Signal chat.

Strong said it doesn’t matter whether the chat contained specific war plans or outlines of the strikes.

“We can’t take the chance,” he said. “I want to find out who did it. Did Michael Waltz do it? Did a staff member do it? And the other question I’ve got is, I can’t believe the person that was added to that call was even in that call list. I don’t know of anybody working in the White House that would even want to be around him.”

4. In response to a question, Strong said he supports federal workers

One caller said federal employees have been “vilified in the media” during coverage of the DOGE cuts to segments of the bureaucracy, and wanted to know what Strong was doing to “stand up” for the large federal workforce in Huntsville.

He called the workforce at Marshall Space Flight Center is “exceptional.”

“I think we’re perfectly positioned, not only at Redstone, but also the research park,” he said. “And there are other countries looking all over North Alabama because of the workforce.

“I will be fighting for our federal workers. I’ll put our team up against anybody, because I know we can meet the mission.”

5. Space Command headquarters in Huntsville is still a priority

Strong said all of Alabama’s lawmakers are still advocating for Space Command headquarters to be located in Huntsville.

The U.S. Air Force named Redstone Arsenal the “preferred location” in 2021 for a permanent headquarters for the newly formed Space Command. The command had been temporarily housed at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. – which is still its location after President Joe Biden’s 2023 decision for it to remain there rather than move it to Alabama.

“I will continue to advocate that Space Command be built at Redstone Arsenal because it is best for national security, and I can tell you this right here, the entire Alabama delegation is working together,” he said.