Press Releases
Lankford Responds to Schumer's Senate Rules Threat
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement on Senator Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) threat to override Senate rules to bend to his progressive legislative agenda: "Schumer's threat to change the rules of the Senate unless he gets his way is not just a temper tantrum; it is a threat to our Republic. For over two centuries, the Senate is the one place in our government where minority opinions have a voice, unless Senator Schumer gets his way. In 2017, 32 Senate Demo… Continue Reading
12.30.21
Lankford, Senate GOP Join House of Representatives in Opposition to Biden Vaccine Mandate in Upcoming Supreme Court Case
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Mike Braun, along with 45 of their Republican Senate Colleagues, joined Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Virginia Foxx (NC-05), Jim Banks (IN-03), and 132 other Representatives in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the upcoming case considering the Biden Administration's top-down Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private… Continue Reading
12.27.21
Lankford, Hawley Demand Homeland Security Stop Hiding Required Report on Visa Overstays
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operation and Border Management, and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the Senators uncovered that DHS has not provided the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee or the public with the Fiscal Year 2020 Entry/Exit Overstay Report. The Senators wrote i… Continue Reading
12.22.21
Lankford, Finance Committee Republicans Demand Treasury Analysis of OECD Agreement
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today joined Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), to send a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen renewing requests for information regarding international tax negotiations. To date, Treasury has been unwilling or unable to fully engage with Congress to provide details on the negotiations, which will have a significant impact on American workers, businesses and revenue. The senators raise concerns with … Continue Reading
12.21.21
Lankford, Capito, Colleagues Support States Against EPA’s Overreaching Rules on Electricity Production
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to lead 46 senators and 44 House members on an amicus curiae brief filed in the US Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in the pending case West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency. "Presidents cannot invent a law or change the law to fit their preferences; they can only follow the law. The law does not give Biden the authority to co… Continue Reading
12.20.21
Lankford: Biden Administration Wall Construction Announcement Huge Victory for American People
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today announced, after months of holding the Biden Administration accountable for its failures to enforce the law and preserve national security at the southern border, that the Department of Homeland Security would finish several gaps in the border wall located in San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, and Del Rio. This announcement comes after Lankford released a report that exposed billions in waste to pay contractors to babysit the bord… Continue Reading
12.20.21
Lankford, Marshall Fight to Protect Small Energy Producers
WASHINGTON, DC - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Roger Marshall, M.D, (R-KS) led a group of colleagues in introducing the Marginal Well Protection Act to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from levying excessive methane emission fees for wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil and less than 90 Mcf (90,000 cubic feet) of natural gas per day. Marginal wells are small, often family-owned wells with around 15 employees or fewer. Marginal wells produce almost 7.5 percent of t… Continue Reading
12.17.21
Lankford, T. Scott, Colleagues Want to Stop Democrats’ Big Government Lending Scheme
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) along with Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and John Kennedy (R-LA), and their Republican colleagues to introduce the Protecting Access to Credit for Small Businesses Act. The bill is designed to prevent Democrats from turning the Small Business Administration (SBA) into a direct lender, which they are attempting to do in their tax-and-spend reconciliation bill. "The Small Business Administration's portion of the COVID relief loans under the Paycheck Pr… Continue Reading
12.17.21
As Inflation Soars, Lankford Joins Colleagues in Standing up for Farmers and Ranchers
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined Senators John Thune (R-SD), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and several of their colleagues to send a letter urging federal financial regulators to provide community banks, credit unions, and Farm Credit institutions with the regulatory flexibility they need to responsibly work with their agriculture clients as the profit margins of farmers and… Continue Reading
12.17.21
Lankford, Tim Scott Push Effort to Protect Faith-Based Child Welfare Providers
WASHINGTON, DC - Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Tim Scott (R-SC) along with Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) sent a bicameral letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, condemning HHS's recent reversal of protections for faith-based adoption and foster care agencies. "We find it disturbing that one day before it released its 2021 AFCARS report, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)-with your express approval- announced the rescission of waivers that w… Continue Reading
12.16.21
Finance Republicans Raise Privacy Concerns with IRS
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), along with Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and the rest of the Finance Committee Republicans, is asking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for information on a recent collaboration with the non-profit group Code for America (CFA), a partnership aimed at helping Americans file for Democrats' expanded child tax credits. In the letter, the Senators raise several concerns around security and privacy protections, especiall… Continue Reading
12.16.21
Lankford Wants to Know If Federal Contractors Are Verifying Workers’ Legal Status with E-Verify
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, led a letter with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), the lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine and report to Congress on the compliance of federal contractors and su… Continue Reading
12.16.21
Lankford Says Biden’s Build Back “Broke” Adds Debt, Hurts Childcare Options
CLICK HERE to watch Lankford's remarks on YouTube. WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) spoke on the Senate floor today about the Democrats' Build Back "Broke" reckless tax-and-spending spree and why he strongly opposed raising the debt ceiling to pay for climate-change, progressive social policy, and new entitlement spending that add even more to our existing almost $29 trillion debt. Lankford shared his opposition to several of the bad provisions in the bill that he believes steer … Continue Reading
12.15.21
Lankford, Rubio Want to Prohibit Non-Citizens From Voting
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford, along with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), introduced the Protecting Our Democracy by Preventing Foreign Citizens from Voting Act to prohibit federal funding to states and localities that allow non-citizens to vote. Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Rick Scott (R-FL) joined Lankford and Rubio in introducing the legislation. Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC) will introduce companion legislation in the US House of Repres… Continue Reading
12.15.21
Lankford Supports Oklahoma Service Members in National Defense Bill after Fighting to Keep Out Progressive Wish-list Items
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today voted to support the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ensure our Oklahoma service members, civilians support teams, and defense contractors have what they need for their missions. "Senator Inhofe successfully fought off the progressives' wish list to pass a solid national defense bill," said Lankford. "The final bill helps move forward the missions of Oklahoma's military installations, gives members of the militar… Continue Reading
12.14.21
Lankford Strongly Opposes Raising Debt Ceiling
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement after Senate Democrats voted to increase the debt ceiling, which Lankford has been critical of for months saying Democrats should be responsible for their reckless spending: "As I have stated throughout this process, I am strongly opposed to raising the debt ceiling without ever having a conversation about how to stop out-of-control federal spending. This entire process of continued unchecked spending only encourag… Continue Reading
12.14.21
Lankford, Rubio, Colleagues Want State Department to Support Tibetan Autonomy
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) to lead a group of bipartisan colleagues in a letter to Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights at the US Department of State, ahead of her expected appointment as Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, advocating for a US policy toward Tibet that protects the rights, autonomy, and dignity of the Tibetan people. The letter also calls for a policy that further vali… Continue Reading
12.14.21
Lankford, R. Scott, Colleagues Push to Block Biden’s Tax-dollar Giveaway to Illegal Immigrants
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK), the lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, today joined Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Mike Braun (R-IN) to introduce the Congressional Review of Agency Legal Settlements Act following reports that the Biden Administration is considering using taxpayer dollars to pay settle… Continue Reading
12.14.21
Lankford, Hawley, Colleagues Demand Answers on Nigeria's Removal from Religious Freedom Violators List
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today joined Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Braun (R-IN), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) to pen a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding answers on why Nigeria was removed from the State Department's list of Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and requesting Nigeria be placed back on the list. Lankford remains a leader … Continue Reading
12.10.21
Lankford Leads Senate Republicans in Opposition to Removing Rule for Faith-Based Contractors
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Senator James Lankford (R-OK) sent a letter to the Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh regarding his strong opposition to the Biden Administration's proposal to rescind a rule issued by the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) during the Trump Administration that provided clarification on the ability of people of faith to partner with the federal government. The initial rule to clarify the civil rights protections for religious organizations that co… Continue Reading
