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Republican (1854-present)

James Lankford

Before his service in Congress, James served students and families for more than 20 years in ministry, including 15 years as the Director of Student Ministry for the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma and Director of the Falls Creek Youth Camp, the largest youth camp in the United States, with more than 51,000 individuals attending each summer.

James and his staff enjoy serving people from all backgrounds across Oklahoma. As Ranking Member of the Government Operations and Border Management  Subcommittee, which covers border security, management, and operations; regulatory reform; and the federal workforce. He demands we have a secure, more fiscally responsible, and transparent federal government, and our nation remains the world leader. He believes that the federal government has an important role in our nation, but empowered families, individual people, and private businesses grow our economy and pass down our values.

Impeachment

    • On Wednesday, September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally announced that the House would begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, focused on President Trump and his Administration’s engagement with Ukraine.
    • The House Intelligence Committee, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed witnesses, held closed-door depositions, and gathered testimony from current and former members of President Trump’s team and national security personnel.
    • For an entire month the House fully conducted their inquiry behind closed doors. On October 24, Senator Lankford cosponsored a Senate resolution, led by Majority Leader McConnell and Senator Graham of South Carolina, to urge the House of Representatives to conduct a transparent impeachment inquiry process—consistent with past impeachment inquiries.
    • The committees of jurisdiction then held multiple open hearings over several months that included several days of testimony. CLICK HERE for information on the House Intelligence Committee hearings. CLICK HERE for information on the House Judiciary Committee hearings.
    • Just before Christmas 2019, the House approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump.
    • Upon the House’s vote to impeach President Trump before Christmas, Speaker Pelosi did not immediately transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
    • The Senate is unable to take action on impeachment, as current Senate Rules don’t allow for the Senate to act until Speaker Pelosi transmitted the articles.
    • Under the Constitution, the House has the authority to impeach the President, and the Senate has the authority to conduct the trial to consider removal from office. Therefore, during previous impeachments trials, articles of impeachment from the House have been immediately presented to the Senate for consideration and trial to allow both chambers to fulfill their constitutional duties. CLICK HERE to watch recent remarks from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate’s role in impeachment, his views on the current situation, and his views about how the process looks going forward.
      • Majority Leader McConnell said on the Senate floor, “The House may have been content to scrap their own norms to hurt President Trump, but that is not the Senate. Even with a process this constitutionally serious, even with tensions rising in the Middle East, House Democrats are treating impeachment like a political toy. Treating their own effort to remove our commander in chief like some frivolous game.”
    • In 1999, the Senate adopted a bipartisan resolution in a vote of 100-0 that set up the initial logistics like briefs, opening arguments, and senators’ questions. It postponed mid-trial questions such as witnesses until the trial was actually under way.
    • Senator Lankford believes using the standard for the Clinton trial for an impeachment trial of President Trump is fair.
    • Senator Lankford wants to see a fair process for the impeachment trial, and we will have more details on the timing and process going forward once Speaker Pelosi transmits the articles of impeachment to the Senate.