Oklahoma's two U.S. Senators, Republicans James Lankford and Jim Inhofe, participated in committee confirmation hearings Tuesday for several of President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees.
Inhofe, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden's nominee for secretary of defense, about several policy priorities including the U.S. nuclear triad and American military operations in Africa. He also commented on Austin's recent retirement from the Army and the subsequent need for a Congressional waiver to serve in the civilian post.
"The department will require strong civilian leadership," Inhofe said. "For you to serve as the secretary of defense, Congress must provide an exception to the law that prohibits individuals from being appointed if they are within seven years of their military service."
"Last week, this committee held a hearing on civilian control of the armed services which, I think it was instructive. I've never been all that concerned about the seven years, but others have," said Inhofe.
A spokesperson said Wednesday that Inhofe was "favorable" to Austin's nomination. If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black secretary of defense.
Meanwhile, Lankford, who sits on both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Homeland Security Committee, questioned Janet Yellen and Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden's nominees for treasury secretary and homeland security secretary, respectively.
Lankford asked Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair, for the "key signs" to look for with regards to the federal debt growing too high.
"I think there’s no single metric that summarizes our overall fiscal situation, but one metric that I do think is useful to keep in mind is the interest burden of the debt—what share of our economy, of GDP is going to pay interest on the debt," Yellen said in part.
"I would submit that we have to find an earlier warning sign because once interest rates start ticking up, in some ways it’s too late because you have so much debt that’s there and the interest rates begin to tick up. If you find that moment when it’s unsustainable, it rapidly gets worse," Lankford told Yellen.
Lankford pressed Mayorkas on topics including whether he believes Immigrations and Customs Enforcement should be defunded (Mayorkas said he did not) and asked about the nominee's position on border security, which Lankford acknowledged does not require a physical barrier along every inch of the U.S.-Mexico border.
A spokesperson for Lankford on Wednesday said the senator had not yet announced how he plans to vote on the nominees or if he had made a decision yet.
