Sen. James Lankford responds to DOGE concerns, Trump speech
Category: News & Politics
Via: jbb • yesterday • 5 commentsBy: Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World (Tulsa World)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Randy Krehbiel - Tulsa World Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. James Lankford said Wednesday that he broadly supports the direction of the Trump administration but acknowledged that implementation of some initiatives has been less than ideal.
In a teleconference with Oklahoma reporters less than 12 hours after President Donald Trump's 100-minute address to Congress, Lankford said his office is having trouble getting answers to such questions as why Oklahoma City's federal building was classified an "underutilized" property to be sold and why the lease for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Muskogee was slated for termination.
"We followed up on that and asked, 'Where are the attorneys going to be?'" Lankford said, referring to the Muskogee situation. "Now they're saying they're not going to actually cancel (the lease)."
He said Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is "throwing out" as many ideas as can be thought up "and saying, 'Unless somebody complains, we're going to keep moving.'"
Lankford said he doesn't believe that 600 Defense Department civilians will be laid off from Tinker Air Force Base, as has been reported, or that the Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester could lose 1,000 civilian jobs, as has been speculated.
Neither could function, Lankford said, if those layoffs were to happen.
He said that while "last-hired, first-fired" may be standard in private industry — the realm of Trump and his adviser Elon Musk — it is often not the best way to reorganize a workforce.
"I don't like the blanket approach," Lankford said. "You wind up firing people and then have to hire new people because it turns out you need someone in those positions."
He cited the Clinton administration, which eliminated 400,000 federal positions "but in a strategic manner over eight years. Government reform is long overdue, but Tinker Air Force Base can't operate if it loses 600 civilian employees."
Republicans cheer on Musk as Trump praises work of DOGE
He expects the process to smooth out as Trump's Cabinet secretaries move into their new jobs and take control of the reorganization away from Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that jobs have been lost, often without any real explanation, and that more seem likely to follow.
"A probationary employee (one hired in the past year) can be fired by the federal government. But because something is allowed and it is legal does not necessarily make it right," Lankford said.
He said he has heard Oklahomans who are all for the new administration's cutting and slashing, as well as people who are opposed. The former, Lankford said, tend to be people not yet personally affected, while the latter are.
"There are four years of pent-up energy in this administration," he said, referring to the gap between Trump's first term, which ended in 2021, and the current one.
Recapping Tuesday night's address by Trump, Lankford praised the president's approach to illegal immigration and tempered concerns about trade wars and foreign relations by saying Trump is "negotiating."
The rest of Oklahoma's all-Republican congressional delegation were similarly enthusiastic after Trump's Tuesday night speech to Congress.
"President Trump laid out a bold, unapologetic vision to renew the American dream," 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern said in a written statement. "From lowering costs for families, to restoring peace abroad, and slashing waste, fraud, and abuse — the possibility of America is in our hands, and under his leadership, the next four years will be a golden era of prosperity, strength, and security."
"@POTUS commanded the podium for TWO hours," U.S Sen. Markwayne Mullin said on social media. "He's restoring the American Dream with relentless determination. "The Golden Age of America has only just begun."
"The days of pushing leftist gender ideology are over with President Trump back in office!" 2nd District Congressman Josh Brecheen said on X. ""Every child is made in the image of God!"
"President Trump is moving quickly to restore common sense through actions like removing biological men from women's sports, drilling our energy right here at home, increasing American shipbuilding, pushing to renew the Trump tax cuts, cracking down on evil terrorist organizations, and more," said 4th District Congressman Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
"What a remarkable night," said 5th District Congresswoman Stephanie Bice, adding that Trump "really laid out his vision for the next four years."
Video: Republicans cheer on Musk as Trump praises work of DOGE
Republicans cheer on Musk as Trump praises work of DOGE
Video: Trump closes his joint address declaring 'the golden age of America has only just begun'
Trump closes his joint address declaring 'the golden age of America has only just begun'
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Landlord must be some kind of TDS Ridden Leftist...
Lankford sponsored the bipartisan Immigration Bill that Biden said he would sign.
but one of the candidates derailed the whole GoP
and now here we are arguing about fentanyl and DEI while the world tries to deal with our diplomatic skull fuckery.
Lol. The "bipartisan" bill only he supported that would have made things worse at the border and prevented Trump from Solving the border crisis in a month if it had passed? That embarrassment the rest of the Senate and House saved us from?
Is Markwayne a Fentanyl user?
Just asking for a friend, lol...
Really? How?
That sounds excruciating.