WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just a few days into the new administration, Republican members of Alabama’s congressional delegation say they’re hopeful about President Donald Trump’s energy policies and plans to secure the country’s southern border.
Alabama Daily News caught up with members this week amid a flurry of executive actions and pronouncements from Trump following the inauguration.
Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, said he was disappointed that Alabamians who traveled to see the inauguration in-person didn’t get the chance to Monday. He described the ceremony as “moving.”
“There was a sense of history there that I haven’t gotten in other inaugural ceremonies, and you just sense that something has changed,” Palmer said. “That was my fourth one, and it was clearly different from anything I’ve ever been a part of.”
Trump signed a slew of executive orders on his first day including declaring a national emergency at the southern border, ending birthright citizenship, suspending the TikTok ban and unleashing American energy which aims to increase energy production on federal lands and expedite the permitting process for energy infrastructure.
Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, said he’s glad Trump is quickly addressing illegal immigration and looked forward to seeing how Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed “border czar” tackles it.
“People are very frustrated with what the past administration allowed to occur at that southern border, and now Donald Trump’s fixing to start the process to fix this,” Strong told Alabama Daily News. “He surrounded himself with great people, the czar, Mr. Homan, I think is very qualified.”
U.S. Senator, Katie Britt, R-Ala, posted on X Tuesday night that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had made 308 arrests of undocumented immigrants.
Palmer said he talked with Trump’s team during the campaign about energy and critical minerals and recommended the administration declare a national energy emergency.
Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring that emergency which will help the administration boost energy production in the country.
“We’ll use the Defense Production Act so that we can immediately permit more energy production and eventually permit mining for critical minerals from rare earth (elements) because we’re dangerously reliant on China,” Palmer told ADN. “It’s a huge national security threat.”
Trump also stopped the TikTok ban for 75 days while the administration works to find an American buyer for the popular app that’s currently owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, who serves as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he wants China out of TikTok and supports American ownership or predominantly American ownership of the app.
“Now, I’ve never done Tiktok,” Rogers told Alabama Daily News. “It’s not my thing, but my kids are crazy about it, and I understand that it’s a platform that a lot of Americans enjoy using, but it is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and owned by them, and that cannot be allowed.”
Rogers also expressed optimism about Trump’s campaign promise of having “peace through strength” and the administration working with Congress to boost the country’s defense spending. Rogers said that will be a positive for Alabama’s defense presence.
“He intends to work with us to make a lot of investments in our defense capabilities so that we deter future aggression and we don’t have to get into wars,” Rogers said. “So I look for a lot of enhancements to our defense spending in this country and building up our defense capability.”