15 years ago this evening, I started The Musings of a MuskogeePolitico (later shortened to simply MuskogeePolitico). As an eighteen year-old at the time, I had no idea that this project would still be going in fifteen years later!

Since starting this site, I've published 5,357 posts, had somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 million hits, and received over 1,600 reader comments (plus thousands more on Facebook and Twitter). In 2011, my blog was named one of the top three political blogs in Oklahoma. Since 2008, my posts have been referenced in major newspapers, and my readers have included sitting members of Congress and state Supreme Court justices. My work has been referenced on the campaign trail, and in political mail and ads on television.

Through my blogging, I've made friends and connections across the country that I otherwise would not have met. It's been a great experience, and for that I'm grateful.

Now for some highlights...

The double-whammy of removing toll booths to implement PlatePay and the legislative override of Gov. Stitt's veto of a tribal vehicle tag compact is going to cost Oklahoma citizens a pretty penny:

This week, members of the Oklahoma Legislature overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of legislation authorizing a one-year compact with tribal governments that allows the issuance of tribal vehicle tags.

When lawmakers did so, they locked in place a system that is allowing drivers with tribal car tags to evade paying tolls on state turnpikes, a practice that is expected to cost the state millions of dollars and increase the fees imposed on all other, non-Indian drivers.

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 27, 2023) - Governor Stitt released a statement praising the decision of the United States Supreme Court to temporarily stay the mandate of the 10th Circuit's decision in Hooper v. City of Tulsa. 

Washington, D.C. (July 24th) – Congressman Josh Brecheen announced the following in-person town halls for the month of August. Constituents are invited to attend and share their thoughts and ask questions on policy issues impacting Washington, D.C. and Oklahoma.

Congressman Brecheen has so far held 44 in-person town halls throughout Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District with more to be announced soon. 

If you’re thinking of traveling in the next few months, don’t book your flight until you have your passport in your hands. To give you perspective, if you apply today for a passport, you probably won’t have it in hand until Thanksgiving, even if you pay the extra fee to “expedite” it. I think the State Department needs to get a better definition of “expedite.”  

Just a few years ago, getting a passport routinely took four to six weeks. Now, passport processing takes anywhere from 12 to 18 weeks or longer—another example of this Administration’s inability to fulfill basic government services like permits, tax decisions, or a multitude of other issues. 

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, passport applications reached a 1.6 million backlog. I found out at the end of May 2020 that not a single passport had been processed since March 19, 2020, despite continuing to collect fees. I immediately sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Pompeo to find out what was going on and address it. Secretary Pompeo immediately made passport services “mission critical,” the backlog started to get caught up, and things went mostly back to normal.

But when the Biden Administration took over in 2021, processing times started to fall behind again and now have exceeded pandemic levels. Why?

State Department staff haven’t been operating at 100 percent capacity, and passport offices never fully reopened to the public after the pandemic. The office now has an unprecedented 3 million passport backlog—three times the worst backlog during the pandemic.

My office has received almost five-times the average number of requests for help this year. Oklahomans are frustrated that they face canceled vacations they saved for years to take, honeymoons they planned, business trips, or mission trips all because the State Department cannot do its job. They’ve created a mess. 

I introduced my Passport Act, which addresses the root cause of the process breakdown, provides straightforward solutions to fix it, and prevents it from reaching historic levels again.

My bill will improve transparency and customer service by requiring the State Department to provide detailed status updates for passport applicants and add a customer service chat feature connecting applicants with the National Passport Information Center. These days, you can track a package delivery online from almost any provider—but the State Department is lagging behind.

I worked with Senator Ricketts from Nebraska to have my bill included in the State Department reauthorization bill. Then, we worked to get it included in the annual defense bill moving through Congress right now. 

I will see this through to get a solution to prevent this fiasco from happening again. Enjoy your vacation trip overseas; just get your passport before you book your flight.  

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 21, 2023) - Governor Stitt and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services provided an update today on the ongoing state fleet modernization initiative previously announced in February.

To date, agencies have turned in a total of 572 underutilized vehicles, saving Oklahoma taxpayers an estimated $5.15 million. Additionally, Geotab trackers have been installed in 3,200 out of 10,500 vehicles statewide.

This is an important issue that needs to be addressed. We cannot rely on Communist China for any essential industry. It's a national security issue.

Lankford Putting a Stop to US Reliance on China for Pharmaceuticals

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (July 21st) – Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Finance, Homeland Security, and Intelligence Committees, introduced the Pharmaceuticals Supply Chain Security Act to proactively reduce US dependence on China for our pharmaceutical supply chain.

Foreign Ownership of Farmland A Detriment to National Security

Everyone in Oklahoma is keenly aware that food security is national security. A nation that cannot feed itself cannot hope to defend itself. 

Because of this, it is essential we protect our farmland, especially from foreign adversaries. For far too long we’ve seen entities - Chinese in particular - coming over and buying our agricultural land. That’s why I’ve led on several fronts to address this troubling issue. 

Watch below:

Washington, D.C. (July 19th) – Today, Congressman Josh Brecheen and Senator JD Vance (R-OH) introduced the No Obamacare for Illegal Aliens Act of 2023 to protect taxpayer dollars by preventing illegal aliens from receiving taxpayer-subsidized healthcare benefits.