Dear Oklahoma friends and neighbors:
January proved to be a pivotal and busy month for our nation. The new Congress was sworn in on January 3, followed by President Trump’s inauguration on January 20. It was an exciting moment for me and my family as well as hundreds of Oklahomans who came to Washington, DC, to watch history with us even after we all had a change of plans to move the festivities indoors. Cindy and I were grateful for the opportunity to host as many Oklahomans as we could in my Washington, DC, office to watch the 47th President be sworn in, see the nation come together for the peaceful transition of power, and see Checotah, Oklahoma’s own Carrie Underwood demonstrate grace under pressure as she sang a cappella about our beautiful nation in front of millions watching around the world.
Even a British friend of mine said he was deeply moved listening to Carrie Underwood.
Our Oklahoma Army National Guard was also a vital part of the security forces during the inauguration. Late one evening, I gave them a night tour of our Capitol and walked them through the history that they are now proudly a part of. They held their re-enlistment and promotion ceremony in the Capitol rotunda and took their oath on the exact spot where President Trump took his oath of office only a few hours earlier.
I was honored to sit on the front row of President Trump’s inauguration and join him for the ceremonial lunch after his swearing in. On the next afternoon, I joined other Senate and House leaders to meet with President Trump in the White House to talk through his numerous Executive Orders issued on Day One and the rapid shift away from the failed policies on the border, the divisive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, and the energy policies that have kept American energy in the ground.
President Trump’s Nominees
I have personally met with many of President Trump’s nominees, starting immediately after the election last year, so we could hit the ground running as soon as the new Congress was seated on January 3. The Senate has moved at warp speed, already confirming as many nominees in the first two weeks as the Senate confirmed in the first two weeks of Trump’s first term and Biden’s first two weeks combined.
We have already confirmed the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. Many more have finished their hearings and are headed to the Senate floor in the next few days, including future Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The US Senate has a vital constitutional role to provide advice and consent to presidential nominees to serve in certain Executive Branch and Judicial Branch roles. I take that responsibility very seriously and work to ask questions and bring up Oklahoma’s priorities.
Very soon we will hold Committee and Senate floor votes on Pam Bondi, RFK Jr, Kash Patel, and many others to keep the process moving and ensure President Trump has his team in place as quickly as possible.
CLICK HERE to watch my Q&A with HHS Secretary nominee RFK, Jr.
Continuing to Stand for Life
After we found bipartisan agreement last week to pass a new law to require the detention of an illegal alien who committed a crime after they crossed our border, called the Laken Riley Act, I thought we could also find bipartisan agreement that a child is a child after they are fully born. My bill, called the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor's Protection Act, simply requires medical care for a child if they are fully born alive after a failed abortion. In most cases, if there is a medical mistake, a life is lost. But if a doctor makes a mistake during an abortion, the child actually lives. In rare cases during a late-term abortion, a viable child is actually delivered instead of aborted inside the womb. I personally know someone who was aborted, but a nurse during the procedure saw that she was still alive and gave her medical care. She is now an amazing adult.
Last week, I brought the Born Alive bill to the Senate floor for a vote, but unfortunately, we could not get the 60 votes needed to open debate on the bill. If a child is fully delivered and crying on the table, it’s hard to believe we cannot agree to give that child medical care. I will keep speaking out for the value of every child.
January also marked one of my favorite events each year, the March for Life in Washington, DC. Many fellow Oklahomans came to Washington, DC, to stand for life. I’m proud of the work we continue to do to stand for life in the Senate, in Oklahoma, and around the nation.
CLICK HERE to watch my remarks on the Senate floor about the Born Alive Bill.
CLICK HERE to watch our press conference on the Born Alive bill and to hear from two people who survived an abortion.
Working with DOGE to Fight Federal Waste
I am a proud founding member of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus in the Senate. When President Trump tapped Elon Musk to help communicate all the areas of inefficiency in our government along with waste and duplication, I was already prepared to give ideas since I have led the Senate to identify and root out waste, fraud, and abuse of federal tax dollars for years in my work on my Federal Fumbles government waste book.
The Senate DOGE Caucus, as we’re calling it, has already kicked things off together to assess what we need to do first and get to work.
CLICK HERE to watch our first discussion on the Senate floor.
I have already introduced a first package of bills that will start unwinding all the waste and overspending of our federal tax dollars.
I look forward to releasing the next edition of my Federal Fumbles government waste book in the days ahead and to working with Elon to tackle the waste we’ve identified for years.
Competing for Federal Transportation Grants for Oklahomans
Our nation always has and always will have transportation and infrastructure needs, the challenge is to determine the places of highest need at that moment. I worked with our Oklahoma Department of Transportation to identify key projects across the state to partner federal tax dollars with our matching state tax dollars.
The recent grants awarded to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the City of Claremore will provide $25.4 million for the Occupied Crossing Mitigation Project in Davis, OK, $1.2 million for the Mannford Railroad Crossing Planning Project to Improve Basin Road Connection, $400,000 for the Prioritizing Crossings to Save Lives in Central Oklahoma Project, and $424,000 for the Claremore Rail Corridor Revitalization: Enhancing Mobility and Safety for a Connected Community Project.
CLICK HERE to read more about these competitive grants.
Additionally, one recent project award consisted of $30 million for work to provide pedestrian walkways and begin to widen US-259 through Hochatown to accommodate the dramatic growth of this vibrant destination in southeast Oklahoma. The MidAmerica Connectivity Project in Pryor, OK, was awarded $38.7 million to expand and improve the safety of infrastructure supporting the MidAmerica Industrial Park. The project includes roadway reconstruction, widenings, new and improved interchanges, and enhanced pedestrian accessibility. The MidAmerica Industrial Park is one of the largest in the nation.
CLICK HERE to read more about these important updates to infrastructure in our state. |