Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) was one of our newsiest guests on Fly Out Day. As a member of the Senate Intelligence, Finance and Homeland Security committees, Lankford finds himself in the middle of a bevy of critical issues
Let’s get into it.
Iran. Lankford said he’s completely comfortable with President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and isn’t terribly interested in qualifying what the president is trying to do.
“All the argument right now is, is it a conflict? Is it a war or whatever?” Lankford said. “If I was in Iran, I would think it was a war right now. And so I don’t get into all the nomenclature on this. At the end of the day, this is going to make them stop long term.”
But Lankford is very clear-eyed that Trump will need more money soon to conduct the war. The Oklahoma Republican said he was told by administration officials that they would need supplemental funding within 48 hours of the war beginning.
“We’re still talking a billion dollars a day, in all likelihood, to be able to maintain the war at the pace it’s running currently,” Lankford told us. “So the number is not small. I mean, that’s like the total spending for the country of Armenia is $11 billion a year for their total government. We just spent that in the first few days of the war.”
The SAVE America Act. Lankford is a staunch supporter of the SAVE America Act. But the Oklahoma Republican is realistic that attaching it would complicate the passage of FISA, a key law that allows the U.S. government to surveil foreign nationals.
“I’d love to see the SAVE America Act get added,” Lankford said. “I’d also love to see us get FISA done at the end of the day. I’m not willing to be able to surrender our national security for a fight that we’re going to have over election security. Both of those are important, but if I’ve got to pick right away, am I going to be able to see a foreign terrorist come to attack me on Thursday, or am I going to fight the fight on dealing with election security? I’m going to protect our national security every day.”
Interestingly, Lankford is opposed to a Trump-pushed provision to ban mail-in balloting. He said Oklahoma’s system, which requires notarized ballots, would be banned under Trump’s proposal.
Oklahoma’s Senate seat. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt met with Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune Thursday to discuss who Stitt may appoint to the Senate to succeed GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who has been nominated to head the Department of Homeland Security. The appointment lasts until a new senator is elected in November.
Lankford said he told Stitt, “just don’t send me a jerk.”
Lankford said that he is not going to endorse in the primary. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is the only declared candidate, but candidates have until early April to jump in.
“Probably not,” Lankford said, when asked if he would endorse. “I didn’t endorse when Markwayne Mullin ran. Though Markwayne is a friend, and I’ve known him for years. But I stayed out of that race. Let everybody work it out. I tell Oklahomans I have one vote like every other Oklahoman does.”
