Washington Examiner: Lankford Ready To Get To Work In Senate
Q&A: James Lankford: House’s top policy cop hopes to reacquaint Senate with appropriations process
BY BETSY WOODRUFF
Rep. James Lankford is pretty much already a member of the Senate.
After handily defeating primary challenger T.W. Shannon, the Oklahoma Republican is coasting to victory in his deeply red home state.
The question now is what kind of senator he’ll be.
Lankford spoke with the Washington Examiner about government shutdowns, clearing the air with supporters of his primary rival, and the House Ginger Caucus. The following is a lightly edited version of the talk.
You introduced legislation last year on government shutdowns, trying to prevent governing by continuing resolution. Do you think government shutdowns can ever be a useful tactic, regardless of the issue?
No. If we can take government shutdowns off the table and still run a budget that has the default to actually do appropriation, that benefits the nation greatly. It brings some level of stability, but it also forces the House and Senate to go back to the appropriations process, which is not happening. More than half of the House now has never seen the full appropriations process, ever.