D.C. Digest: Lucas says Johnson has won him over — for now.

“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.”

No pushover: U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who knows Johnson well from their time in the House together, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer better not try to bull rush the new speaker.

“Mike is a guy that you can get along with. But if Chuck thinks he’s gonna push him around, he’s gonna find he can’t,” Mullin told Politico.

Penny wise?: House Republicans’ bill to send $14.5 billion to Israel and offset it with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service had the unanimous and sometimes enthusiastic support of Oklahoma’s House delegation and at least one of the state’s U.S. senators.

“If we’re taking money away from the 87,000 IRS agents, I’m all about that,” Mullin said early in the week.

Analysts say the oft-used talking point about 87,000 IRS agents is, at best, an exaggeration. While the number is accurate, it refers mostly to filling vacant positions and replacing people who leave the federal tax collection agency over the next decade.

The situation, however, does illustrate budget hawks’ challenges in trying to control federal spending. Analysts say the Republicans’ offset could wind up costing more in lost tax revenue than it saves. And it would scrap a plan to expand free, online filing that would likely save some constituents some time and money and perhaps improve compliance.

Ukraine: Mullin and Lankford remained advocates for continued aid to Ukraine.

“We have a commitment to Ukraine, just as we have a commitment to Israel,” Mullin told Bloomberg. “America said, ‘We’re going to be there for Ukraine.’ America said, ‘We’re going to be there for Israel.’ We need to be there for both.”

Mullin noted that most of the money considered aide to Ukraine will actually be spent to replenish U.S. munitions stockpiles.

Iran sanctions: First District Congressman Kevin Hern endorsed legislation to reimpose the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions against Iran.

The sanctions were lifted by the Biden administration in 2021.

“Trump’s Maximum Pressure campaign was effective,” Hern said in a press release. “It held the Iranian regime and their proxies in check. Biden abandoned that campaign, and we are seeing the results of that decision today with the attacks from Iran-backed Hamas on Israel and from Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq on US forces.”

Some analysts say the sanctions dried up Iran’s cash reserves and likely would have resulted in the country’s becoming less of a regional power. Others say the sanctions mainly harmed the Iranian citizenry while entrenching ruling hardliners.

Mr. Appropriator: Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole told Politico he will run for Appropriations Committee chairman next year after the retirement of Chair Kay Granger of Texas and assuming Republicans retain control of the House.

“I’ll make an official announcement at the appropriate time, but that would be my intention,” Cole said.

Cole is the current vice chairman, as well as chairman of the Rules Committee, and has chaired two Appropriations subcommittees. He was mentioned as a possible House speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s removal but did not publicly campaign for that position.

Union busters: Lucas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jay Obernolte complained about what they said is inappropriate favoritism toward labor unions by the Department of Energy.

“It has come to our attention that the DOE has recently issued dozens of (funding opportunity announcements) that appear to heavily encourage the use of unionized labor, requiring applicants to demonstrate how they are advocating for unionization inside their organization. This type of direction is in clear conflict with long-standing federal acquisition regulations that ban federal contractors from either encouraging or discouraging unionization,” Lucas and Obernolte said in a letter to the DOE.

Immigration: U.S. Sen. James Lankford again sparred with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over immigration policy, although this time they did not seem to disagree over as much.

Mayorkas seemed to confirm some of Lankford’s prior complaints about the asylum system, saying it needs to be thoroughly reformed, and he did not dispute Lankford’s assertion that swift repatriation of illegal immigrants from places such as Venezuela has corresponded with a steep drop in contacts from people in those countries.

Straight only: Second District Congressman Josh Brecheen is fighting a proposed Health and Human Services rule that would require states and tribes to place foster children who identify as something other than heterosexual only with adults who are “trained to be prepared with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of the child related to the child’s self-identified sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and the provider will facilitate the child’s access to age-appropriate resources, services, and activities that support their health and well-being.”

In essence, the rule says LGBTQI+ kids cannot be put in the care of people who do not accept their LGBTQI+ identity.

In a press release, Brecheen’s office said this discriminates “against foster parents who do not affirm LGBTQ ideology.”

On a related note, Brecheen is pursuing legislation to bar anyone who’s ever conducted transgender research from receiving federal grants.

Dots and dashes: Hern advocated broadening the definitions of eligible K-12 education expenses that can be paid through so-called 529 accounts, which can offer several tax advantages. … Lankford and Mullin voted against confirmation of Jack Lew as U.S. ambassador to Israel. … Mullin criticized Palestinians for not turning on Hamas and told Newsmax he “won’t be supporting anything that is going to be putting money into Gaza in a time of war.” … Newsweek reported defense stocks bought by Hern and Mullin a few months ago are up 18% since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

— Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World

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