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| Senator Lankford giving legislative updates to Altus Chamber of Commerce. Photo Credit: SenatorLankford. |
According to Oklahoma's largest newspaper, The Oklahoman, Senator Lankford ended up on some "plum assignments" as far as committees go. He serves on the committees of:
- Appropriations - jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate
- Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Member, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
- Member, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - oversight on the Dept. of Homeland Security
- Chairman, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
- Member, Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management
- Member, Subcommittee on Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
- Intelligence - oversight of federal intelligence activities
- Indian Affairs - deals with problems and opportunities of Native Americans
Committee Membership: GovTrack.Us
For being a freshman Senator-elect, Lankford must be pretty special (often referred to as a "rising star") to have landed higher ranked committees such as these for his first year. Lankford is known for consistently towing party lines which makes him ideal member on any prominent committee the GOP wants a tight hold on.
Appropriations, although not as prestigious as it once was, is still a powerful committee to be a member of. Senator Lankford is on many subcommittees of this committee as well. He served on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee which is equivalent to the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, thus he was an appropriate choice as a member. It also comes as no surprise that an Oklahoman Senator would be on the Indian Affairs Committee as 9% of the population is Native American. As part of this committee, Lankford already introduced Bill S.321 to revoke the incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the tribe's request. The chance of this bill being successful is 43% according to the bill's page on GovTrack.Us.
I think Senator Lankford is devoting a lot of time, rightfully so, to his subcommittee Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management. As chairman, he and the Ranking Member, Heidi Heitkamp, have started a bipartisan #CutRedTape Initiative to improve communications between American families/businesses and the Senate regarding how they are affected by federal regulations. The goal here is to cut unnecessary bureaucracy.
I think overall his committee assignments are perfectly correlated with the topics he's been working with during all his time in Congress. His constituent's needs are consistently the reason of all his actions along with his support of ethical practices and beliefs.
Appropriations, although not as prestigious as it once was, is still a powerful committee to be a member of. Senator Lankford is on many subcommittees of this committee as well. He served on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee which is equivalent to the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, thus he was an appropriate choice as a member. It also comes as no surprise that an Oklahoman Senator would be on the Indian Affairs Committee as 9% of the population is Native American. As part of this committee, Lankford already introduced Bill S.321 to revoke the incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the tribe's request. The chance of this bill being successful is 43% according to the bill's page on GovTrack.Us.
I think Senator Lankford is devoting a lot of time, rightfully so, to his subcommittee Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management. As chairman, he and the Ranking Member, Heidi Heitkamp, have started a bipartisan #CutRedTape Initiative to improve communications between American families/businesses and the Senate regarding how they are affected by federal regulations. The goal here is to cut unnecessary bureaucracy.
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| Senator Lankford and North Dakota's Senator Heitkamp Launch Bipartisan #CutRedTape Initiative. Photo Credit: SenatorLankford |
I think overall his committee assignments are perfectly correlated with the topics he's been working with during all his time in Congress. His constituent's needs are consistently the reason of all his actions along with his support of ethical practices and beliefs.
