Lankford Launches Senate Republican Leadership Bid

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) announced on March 20 that he is running for a leadership position in the Senate GOP conference.

He is aiming for the conference’s vice chair position, which is currently occupied by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

In a statement, Mr. Lankford explained that the vice chair “plays a vital role in serving Republican senators and their staff as they communicate the conservative policy ideas that make our nation stronger.”

Mr. Lankford, who has been in the Senate since 2015 and previously was in the House between 2011 and 2015, expressed a desire to get things done.

“As senators, we were elected to do hard things and to solve problems by doing the right thing, the right way,” he said. “It is my desire to serve our conference in every way I can as we work together to solve the challenges our nation faces.

“I will personally ask each of my colleagues for their support in the days ahead and look forward to discussing with them ways we can work together to serve the nation.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced earlier this month he would step down as Senate GOP leader after a record 17 years in the position.

Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are running to succeed Mr. McConnell, while Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is running for Senate GOP whip, a position currently occupied by Mr. Thune.

Elections to select conference leaders will happen in November after the general election.

Mr. Lankford’s announcement comes a month after the Senate blocked bipartisan border security measures he negotiated.

This was part of a $118 billion bill that included assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. Of that amount, $20 billion was allocated for the border security measures.

The bill would have provided a new emergency authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to restrict border crossings if an average of 4,000 daily encounters is reached over one week.

If this threshold is gained, then the DHS secretary has the power to shut down the border by denying illegal immigrants the ability to apply for asylum.

However, if average encounters reached 5,000 a day over a given week, the DHS secretary would have been required to shut the border.

The deal also limited the president’s parole authority to allow more illegal immigrants into the country and raised the legal bar for the initial screening of asylum claims.

It would have also expedited the asylum processing time to six months from many years.

The package did not include a restoration of former President Donald Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, which many Republicans told The Epoch Times was a must-have.

Most Republicans in the House and Senate objected to the border security policies, citing they do not go far enough in dealing with the crisis.

Mr. Lankford faced scorn and criticism from his party for his role in the deal’s creation.

On Jan. 27, he was censured by his state GOP, which called the proposal an “open-border deal.”

But in a statement following the release of the text, Mr. Lankford defended the policy he had put together.

“The border security bill will put a huge number of new enforcement tools in the hands of a future administration and push the current administration to finally stop the illegal flow,” Mr. Lankford said.

“The bill provides funding to build the wall, increase technology at the border, and add more detention beds, more agents, and more deportation flights.

“The border security bill ends the abuse of parole on our southwest border that has waved in over a million people.

“It dramatically changes our ambiguous asylum laws by conducting fast screenings at a higher standard of evidence, limited appeals, and fast deportation.”