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Constituents in eastern Alabama are furious with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) for skipping out of the district before they could voice their concerns about issues like the economy, healthcare, and national security, according to WRBL.The group Indivisible Auburn-Opelika invited Rogers to a community “People’s Town Hall” held last week at the local library, but Rogers declined to attend.Organizers told WRBL that Rogers’ absence "is nothing new," even if House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) discouraged Republican lawmakers from attending town halls due to recent vitriol and disruptions.Committee member Lee McInnis told the news outlet, “So as far as I can tell, Mike Rogers hasn’t held a town hall meeting in eight years. So, I don’t think Mike Johnson saying anything would have necessarily dissuaded him."ALSO READ: 'Promoted our tormenter': MAGA fans vent disgust at Trump official's latest moveMcInnis continued, "But I think it breaks the basic social contract that our elected representatives have. They were elected to represent the people of the third District of Alabama. If he is not going to meet with a broad spectrum of his constituents, he does not know what his constituents think and he does not know how to represent.” He added, “We wanted an opportunity to address Congressman Rogers to express to him our concerns about the direction the administration has been going in the first three months of its time in office, and to tell him that he does not necessarily have the support and concurrence of the entirety of the third Alabama Congressional District.”Organizers said they recorded the town hall and planned to send a copy to Rogers’ office. Donald Trump gave his "complete and total endorsement" to Rogers during the congressman's re-election campaign in November 2023.“Congressman Mike Rogers is doing a fantastic job representing the people of Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “As the first chairman of the House Armed Services Committee from Alabama, Mike is rebuilding our great military, fighting woke ideology, and defending our country.”Read the WRBL article here.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has infiltrated classified networks that house highly sensitive information about America's nuclear weapons programs, according to reporting from National Public Radio.Two NPR reporters wrote that Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, and Adam Ramada, a Miami-based venture capitalist, have had accounts on the closely guarded computer systems for at least two weeks."Prior to their work at DOGE, neither Farritor nor Ramada appear to have had experience with either nuclear weapons or handling classified information," the report said.The NPR reporters wrote that they spoke to two independent sources for their story. These sources said they had directly viewed Farritor and Ramada's names in the networks' directories."Although sources confirmed the presence of accounts, it remains unclear just how much access to classified data the two DOGE staffers actually have," the reporters wrote. ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat'A source told NPR, "that the presence of DOGE officials on DOE's classified systems would represent an escalation in DOGE's recent privileges inside the agency," giving them a "toehold" that would allow DOGE to request classified information. "They're getting a little further in, it's something to make note of," the source said. "It could lead to something bigger."However, a Department of Energy spokesperson "flatly denied that Farritor and Ramada had access to the networks."In an emailed statement, the spokesperson wrote, "This reporting is false. No DOGE personnel have accessed these NNSA systems. The two DOGE individuals in question worked within the agency for several days and departed DOE in February.""In February, CNN reported that DOGE employees, including Farritor, were seeking access to the secretive computer systems," the report said. "At the time, Energy Secretary Chris Wright denied that they would be allowed on the networks."Wright told CNBC, "I've heard these rumors, 'They're like seeing our nuclear secrets.' None of that is true at all; they don't have security clearances."Read the NPR article below.

Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill after a break that saw many of them back home at contentious town hall meetings with unhappy constituents. Now that they've heard what voters have to say, both the House and Senate must grapple with passing President Donald Trump's agenda in the form of a massive spending bill. CNN's Manu Raju called this next week a "critical period of legislating." "The House Republicans and Senate Republicans have been laying the groundwork for months for this moment, to actually draft the details of this massive bill that includes a sweeping overhaul of the tax code, more than $1 trillion in spending cuts to federal programs, new provisions for immigration, and billions of dollars for Defense spending and Homeland Security spending, as well," Raju said. He added that the House GOP unveiled two new appropriations over the weekend that would include $150 billion for defense programs, and more than $47 billion in new physical barriers along the southern border. ALSO READ: 'We’ve made a mistake': Trump’s trade war sends GOP into frenzy "Some of the more complex details still need to be sorted out, namely those spending cuts, as well as how to overhaul the United States tax code, which is why this moment is so critical for the House and Senate GOP to get on the same page," Raju said. Raju asked Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) about his constituent meetings and how they were reacting to rising prices due to Trump's tariffs. "Well, they're concerned about the disruptive nature of this change in U.S. policy, but they're optimistic that with the 90-day pause, that hopefully a zero-tariff negotiation will occur," Cornyn said. He continued, "For four years we've suffered from 40-year high inflation, so, the price of everything went up about 20% during the Biden years. And, yes, there's been some temporary increase in prices because of the tariffs." Raju said Trump was currently meeting with House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to discuss how this and other upcoming votes will affect next year's midterm campaigns. "As we know, midterm campaigns don't go particularly well for a sitting president's party, and that will be one of the things that will be driving a lot of the discussion on the legislative front," Raju said.Watch the clip below via CNN.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is more focused on photo ops than leadership at the Pentagon, according to new reporting from Politico.The piece cited a recent podcast appearance by Colin Carroll, who was fired from his position as chief of staff to the deputy Defense secretary during a Hegseth-ordered leak investigation.Carroll told podcast host Megyn Kelly that Hegseth "was obsessed with the spread of leaks and spent half his time investigating them at the detriment of defense priorities," the report said.“He was very focused on the leaks, and I think it kind of consumed the team a little bit,” said Carroll said. “If you look at a pie chart of the secretary’s day, at this point, 50 percent of it is probably a leak investigation."Also read: 'This is our shot': Dems believe MTG's new job gives 'golden opportunity' to destroy GOPCarroll claimed that Hegseth was consumed with dismantling perception that he was "undisciplined and a heavy drinker," as he was portrayed by opponents during his contentious confirmation hearings. Hegseth has firmly denied the accusations.“In order to combat that image, it’s ‘hey, I’m gonna go work out with the troops,’” Carroll said. ”While that is important — and it’s a thing to do to get out there and helps recruiting and helps morale — if you’re taking a half day trip to the Naval Academy at the same time the budget is due, and we really need some support here … come on, you gotta weigh priorities.”Carroll told a “tale of two Petes,” wrote reporters Paul McLeary and Jack Detsch: the first was "a straight-talking leader able to convince skeptical Republicans to boost higher defense spending;" while the second was "a Pentagon chief fixed on 'weird details' who could get 'very agitated' in internal meetings."In an interview with The Atlantic, out Monday President Donald Trump continued to stand by Hegseth, a former Fox News host, even after his compounding Signalgate scandals.“He’s gonna get it together,” Trump said. “I had a talk with him, a positive talk, but I had a talk with him.”

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