Lankford Responds to Schumer’s Senate Rules Threat

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement on Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) threat to override Senate rules to bend to his progressive legislative agenda:

“Schumer’s threat to change the rules of the Senate unless he gets his way is not just a temper tantrum; it is a threat to our Republic. For over two centuries, the Senate is the one place in our government where minority opinions have a voice, unless Senator Schumer gets his way. In 2017, 32 Senate Democrats signed a letter saying that the filibuster should not change—27 of those Democrats are still in the Senate. Now that they are in power, they want to do whatever it takes to pass their progressive legislative agenda by changing the historic rules of our Republic. 

“It is absurd to claim that Republicans do not want free and fair elections. We all want fair elections. Democrats want to federalize our elections over the states and local authorities in blue and red states. Their absurd overreach only benefits keeping them in power and is not what’s in the best interest of Americans.”

In 2017, 32 Democrats signed on to a letter in an effort to preserve the filibuster. There are five Democrats who signed on who are no longer in the Senate, including Vice President Kamala Harris. 

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