“They will sometimes make dramatic recommendations for change, and that’s a good thing. We just have to make sure that it’s a good change.”
WASHINGTON, DC – In remarks yesterday morning before a breakfast meeting of The Ripon Society, U.S. Reps. Frank Lucas (OK-3) and August Pfluger (TX-11) discussed the DOGE effort to reshape the federal government and the areas where they believe Congress can – and should – play a role.
“What a challenging period of time,” Lucas stated in remarks to open the discussion, referring to the first 66 days of the new administration. “How do you describe the energy of the Trump Administration? How do you describe the energy of the DOGE process, the confusion and chaos on the other side of the aisle in both the House and the Senate, and just the generally wound-up nature of the public back home?
“I’ve been around for 31 years come May, and I lived through the experience that fired up my Oklahomans called the Obama Administration. I went through the backlash of the first two years of Trump 45, when what were left of my Democrats in Oklahoma went berserk. But the attitude and the intensity out in the countryside is really quite amazing right now.”
Lucas was elected in a special election in May of 1994, a year that saw Republicans retake control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for the first time since 1954. A member of both the Financial Services Committee and Agriculture Committee, where he spent six years as Chairman, the Oklahoma lawmaker is the 17th most senior member of the House.
He is also someone who has seen a lot in his three-decade long political career in Washington.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like Elon Musk’s dramatic effort to change the nature of government,” Lucas admitted. “I’ve spent a lot of time in recent weeks explaining to some of the DOGE folks what certain activities are back home. Initially, they fired all 10 federal predator control people at USDA in my state. If you are in the livestock business, there are certain things that state and local officials cannot do. The black neck vulture is an example of a migratory bird – that’s something only a federal official can address. Once we explained what these people did, they came back to work. I also lost 15 of my 61 scientists at a research station in El Reno, Oklahoma. Once we explained the research and the return on that investment, they came back.”
To that end, Lucas continued, he sees an important role for Congress to play as the Department of Government Efficiency moves forward with its efforts in the weeks and months ahead.
“We’ll spend a period of time in Congress making slight adjustments,” he stated, “because sometimes the idealistic folks operating at 30,000 feet don’t have a clear view of what’s happening on a day-to-day basis.
“Now, is that a good thing? I’ve been around enough to know that every business of any consequence brings in efficiency managers and consultants. They review every facet of every corporate enterprise, and they will sometimes make dramatic recommendations for change, and that’s a good thing. We just have to make sure that it’s a good change.”
Pfluger agreed.
“The DOGE process is shaking things up,” the Texas Republican stated matter-of-factly. “It’s making our government more efficient and doing things that we’ve been talking about for years.”
Pfluger was first elected to the House in 2020 after spending 20 years in the military as a decorated fighter pilot and squadron commander, including two deployments to Syria and Northern Iraq. A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Homeland Security Committee, he serves as Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which is not only the largest caucus of conservatives on Capitol Hill, but a caucus that will be critical to Republican unity – and Republican success – this year.
“Are Republicans going to stick together?” Pfluger asked, repeating a question he said is often asked by the people he represents back home. “As Chairman of RSC, I made a promise to every single person in our organization that we were going to make that the top priority; that we were going to work on the front end of legislative initiatives – not the back end, not waiting until the 11th hour – but that we were going to work hard in the planning phase of this. I think we have done that. Who would have ever thought that we would pass a yearlong CR and have a mic drop moment, leave town, and send it to the Senate and dare them to shut down the government?”
“Now, President Trump deserves a lot of credit for this. But I will say that behind the scenes, we’re working on the details. We’re getting everybody’s input. We’re looking at the plans and making sure that Republicans actually have their voices heard and realize that getting 85 to 90 percent of what we asked for is a pretty good deal.”
“So if you’re wondering whether Republicans can stick together, the game’s not over. We still have a lot of sticking together to do. And I’m really proud of what we have done here in the first couple of months.”
Following their opening remarks, Lucas and Pfluger took a number of questions, including one about the road ahead in Congress and what they were optimistic about this year.
“I’m optimistic because winning is fun,” Pfluger stated. “We have a taste of winning. And I say this at every meeting, winning is a lot of fun. The agenda – we know we have to get things right. We know that this is our only opportunity to right-size the government and do something about the fiscal situation, which is in a dire state right now … But I’m optimistic because we are sticking together. I think we like the taste of winning, and that we are going to get this agenda done.”
Lucas struck a similar note, and added that one of the reasons he was upbeat about Republican prospects was because of the individual who was leading House Republicans this year.
“Probably the single most impressive thing so far that bubbles my optimism to the top is how Speaker Johnson has grown into the role,” the veteran lawmaker said. “Remember where we were six months ago – the chaos and the confusion. The Speaker has stepped up in his ability to navigate the very complicated waters at the White House and within our Republican Conference and develop a working relationship with the leadership team in the Senate. I’m very pleased with how far the Speaker has come.”
To view the remarks of Lucas and Pfluger before The Ripon Society on Thursday morning, please click the link below:
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.