by Randy Krehbiel

November 5, 2023

He'll do: Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, who entered Congress in 1994 and is the longest-serving member of Oklahoma’s current delegation, told a Republican group last week that he thinks new House Speaker Mike Johnson will work out fine.

 

“I’m an enthusiastic Johnson supporter now,” Lucas told the Ripon Society, a Republican group steeped in the traditions of Teddy Roosevelt and the party’s 19th century founders.

 

“I’ve been around long enough — my first speaker was a Democrat by the name of Tom Foley — I have observed all the battles back and forth,” Lucas said. “And I’ve observed attempted coups in the past. I have not been a participant of anarchy, but I’ve observed all of it up close. And I think that the process — the gyrations — we’ve just gone through probably have given us the strongest possible speaker that we could have at this moment in time.” 

 

But Lucas admits that his opinion could change depending on how Johnson handles some of the challenges ahead, including a farm bill and the annual agriculture appropriations, both of which some Republicans have already taken to with sharp knives.

 

“We’ll see how that evolves over the rest of this year and into next year,” Lucas said. “We only have a two-year contract, which means we have 13 months in this majority to demonstrate we need a renewal. I believe we can do that if my friends will play as a team.”

 

SOURCE: https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/d-c-digest-lucas-says-johnson-has-won-him-over-for-now/article_4f8b9194-7a58-11ee-890b-53fb27e08449.html

 

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The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.