Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma stated Thursday that Congress can meet President Donald Trump’s June 1 deadline for passing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, though the process would be strained.
Lankford, speaking on “Wake Up America,” said lawmakers are under significant pressure to expedite the effort. He noted that Republicans are pursuing a reconciliation bill focused solely on border security and national safety priorities to ensure swift passage. “Congress is working to focus on the reconciliation bill just on safety and security issues to move it through as quickly as possible,” Lankford explained.
Lankford emphasized that most of the Department of Homeland Security remains funded, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection operate under temporary funding. “Many Americans have lost track of the fact that DHS is funded except for ICE and CBP,” he said. “We still have temporary funding for them — we need to get permanent funding.”
Lankford described Republicans’ push for long-term funding as critical to avoiding repeated spending battles with Democrats. “What we’re trying to do is secure funding for the next three years so this fight doesn’t happen again,” he added.
The senator also supported bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing future federal shutdowns, calling such incidents harmful to taxpayers and federal workers. He stated that the ideal solution would be a bill guaranteeing, “We’ll never have a shutdown again.”
Lankford criticized the current approach of letting the public bear the burden during budget conflicts. “We’ve got to take this off the table and force Congress to stay in session until we solve the problem,” he said. “Put the pressure on us, not on the American people.”
Additionally, Lankford discussed ongoing discussions at President Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, noting that Iran, trade, and human rights were among key topics. He stressed shared U.S.-China concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and the need for open shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. “Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” Lankford said. “The Strait of Hormuz must remain open for commerce.”
Lankford warned that Iran’s repeated disruptions have global economic consequences: “Literally every country in the world is being affected by Iran choking off the Strait of Hormuz.” He urged China to leverage its economic ties with Tehran to pressure Iran.
He also criticized China’s treatment of religious leaders, stating that Chinese authorities often imprison pastors indefinitely for not being sufficiently loyal to the government. “They’re loyal to Jesus, and so they just throw them in prison,” he added.
