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Inhofe Named Chair Of Senate Armed Services Committee

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., stops to speak to members of the media after attending the weekly GOP conference luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais
/
AP Photo
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., stops to speak to members of the media after attending the weekly GOP conference luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018.

Sen. Jim Inhofe became the first Oklahoman to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell named him to replace John McCain.

In a noon statement on the Senate floor, McConnell praised Inhofe for serving as acting chair of the committee while McCain underwent brain cancer treatment in Arizona this year.  McCain, who had chaired the committee since 2015, died August 25 after fighting cancer for more than a year.

“He possesses rich experience on the committee, including decades of work on behalf of American service members, as well as his own military service,” McConnell said of Inhofe.

While Inhofe, like McCain, is a military veteran and experienced committee member, replacing McCain will be a challenge for the senator, said Michael O’Hanlon, director of research on foreign policy at the Brookings Institute.

O’Hanlon said given McCain’s focused expertise in military and security policy, comparing any successor to McCain is “almost like comparing somebody to Babe Ruth or Joe DiMaggio.”

Inhofe told Gaylord News he wants to work on putting Armed Services subcommittees to better use from his new position, and that he won’t necessarily be as involved as his predecessor was in several aspects of the committee.

“My concern is going to be to accurately determine what the risk is out there, and if it’s a huge risk to America, and then how to best meet that risk through our authorization bills and our legislation,” Inhofe said.

The committee will also be pursuing the president’s proposed Space Force program, a sixth military branch that would oversee defense in space. Inhofe responded to questions about his personal position on Space Force only by noting that the cost of the program has yet to be determined.

As a representative of a state heavily dependent on military spending — Tinker Air Force Base, one of Oklahoma’s six military bases, is one of the state’s largest employers — Inhofe’s full impact on Oklahoma from his new position isn’t yet clear. Inhofe said he’ll continue to look out for the state’s military interests.

Inhofe’s presence on the committee certainly won’t be detrimental for Oklahoma, said John Fishel, professor emeritus from the National Defense University and lecturer at the University of Oklahoma.

“Having a very senior member from the state as the chair is obviously going to help,” Fishel said. “When there’s a choice between (Oklahoma) and Texas, guess where Jim Inhofe’s going to be. At least, that’s what I think.”

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