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Tom Cole’s Bipartisan Reputation Gets Put to the Test in Trump’s Partisan Washington

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oklahomawatch.org – Em Luetkemeyer – 2025-05-09 10:51:00


Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican with over 20 years in Congress, faces a challenging appropriations process as chair of the Appropriations Committee. While respected by both Republicans and Democrats, Cole has struggled with partisan divisions, especially under the influence of President Trump. Last year, appropriations were stalled, and negotiations broke down into continuing resolutions. Despite this, Democrats still hold some goodwill toward Cole, admiring his bipartisan approach. However, many Republicans, like Rep. Steve Womack, see his ability to navigate both parties as crucial for securing agreements, especially in a divided Congress.

If you ask lawmakers to describe Rep. Tom Cole and his more than 20 years of service in the House, Republicans and Democrats will both give him praise. Knowledgeable. A bipartisan negotiator. A friend.

But for the last year as Appropriations chair, the Oklahoma Republican has overseen one of the most bitter and partisan processes lawmakers have ever gone through while exercising Congress’ power of the purse. And Democrats are concerned this upcoming appropriations cycle will somehow be more bitter and partisan than the last.

Along with so many other norms, President Donald Trump has upended the practice of reaching across the aisle — particularly when it comes to appropriations bills. Lawmakers used to come together at the end of the year and approve a sweeping spending bill, after they were mostly unable to pass individual appropriations measures.

But during the last spending cycle, Republicans and Democrats weren’t able to agree on anything. Instead, Republicans rammed through a glorified continuing resolution that mostly extended the previous spending deal, with some notable exceptions that Democrats disagreed with.

Now, as Congress starts the appropriations process again, Cole is tasked with appeasing his GOP colleagues and somehow getting buy-in from Democrats to negotiate after they were largely shut out of talks last time.

“I’ve never seen it quite as challenging as it is now to come to deals,” Cole told NOTUS.

“We’re better off when we work together and find common ground,” he said. “I think the [appropriations committee] has a tradition of doing that. I don’t think that tradition is gone. We’ve just got to get back to our roots.”

Getting back to those roots won’t be easy. But somehow, even after the appropriations process devolved into a cascade of CRs, a spending deal that was reneged, and, finally, a partisan spending bill, Democrats told NOTUS they have hope.

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, suggested she blamed Speaker Mike Johnson, Trump and Elon Musk a lot more for the December spending deal falling apart than Cole. She said that legislation — which dissolved when Musk and some Republicans began railing against the special projects in the deal — was the product of intense negotiations between the two parties.

“Oh my gosh, heavy negotiations,” DeLauro said.

She said she’s worked “very closely” and “very, very well” with her counterpart. Ultimately, however, Trump’s grip on the conference made Cole’s work not matter all that much.

“It was hard, you know, when we were that close,” DeLauro said. “I continue to negotiate with him, but he is a good friend, and somebody who gets it.”

She said Cole doesn’t have the leeway she has to push back against the president.

Cole, for his part, said Trump is “not an insignificant player” in any negotiations on Capitol Hill — he has to sign the bill after all. But what the administration wants is not the end-all-be-all, as far as Cole is concerned.

Outside of his office last week, where the smell of cigar smoke filled the hallway, Cole held court with reporters. He talked about the tension between the president and Congress as Republicans now attempt to hammer out a reconciliation bill.

“Presidents and administrations don’t get to dictate what’s going to happen here,” Cole said. “Congress is not the Army, and the president is the president, but not the commander-in-chief of Congress.”

“We’re supporting this administration, what it’s trying to do, but with all due respect to anybody, I think the members have a better understanding of what can pass and what can’t than the executive branch does,” he added.

Cole told NOTUS he doesn’t think this administration has tried to dictate anything in particular, but he insisted spending bills must be “a negotiated product.”

“Leadership on both sides have to agree, and I don’t think leadership on either side was prepared to agree in December. I think that’s too bad because that was a time to make the deal,” Cole said. “Come March, clearly, we had a deal on the table, we thought, and we couldn’t quite get there. And again, I think that was pressure from leadership.”

It’s true that spending negotiations were largely taken from Cole. Republican leaders, under pressure from Trump and conservatives, seemed to think mostly extending current spending levels was the way to go. And once, somewhat miraculously, Republicans were able to advance their bill out of the House, a number of Democrats in the Senate swallowed the legislation, reasoning that it was better than a shutdown.

It wasn’t how Democrats wanted the process to play out. But Democrats also suggested they didn’t think it was how Cole wanted it to play out either.

Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern told NOTUS he respects and admires Cole, whom he worked with closely when they served as the top members of the Rules Committee for their respective parties. McGovern said Cole, “if left to his own devices,” could come up with a “decent” appropriations package. But, McGovern said, Cole isn’t steering that spending ship.

The Trump administration and the Freedom Caucus have put Cole in a “tough spot,” McGovern said.

“My fear is that he is not going to be allowed to work his will,” he added. “What we’ve seen to this point is that reasonable people like Tom Cole seem to have been kind of pushed to the sidelines.”

Yes, Democrats were unhappy with the last appropriations process. Yes, Cole oversaw the process. But Democrats don’t seem to blame him for the outcome.

While that sort of goodwill among Democrats could be a liability in the red-meat Republican conference, GOP lawmakers also suggested it was an advantage. Rep. Steve Womack, who chairs a key subcommittee on Appropriations, said Cole’s favorability in both parties is exactly what’s needed.

“He’s a very well-respected member, kind of more of an institution guy, which is what I think we need right now, in terms of being — I mean, let’s just face it, we’re in divided government. The country’s divided,” Womack told NOTUS. “Political reality is you’re going to have to have things that can attract members on both sides of the aisle for the most important work that our Congress needs to be doing, and I think Tom Cole is the ideal person to lead the effort in that regard.”

Other Republicans on the Appropriations Committee agreed.

Rep. David Valadao emphasized the “tough” political environment members are in right now. He said Cole was better positioned than anyone to be chair at the moment.

“We’re trying to reach an agreement on top-line numbers that we could actually get something to the president’s desk and be signed by the president. And [Democrats] weren’t willing to negotiate,” Valadao said. “Hopefully, moving forward, they’re willing to talk to Tom, get to top-line numbers, agree to them and start appropriations bills, but it really is going to fall on both sides to come to an agreement that can get across the desk.”

Another longtime appropriator, Rep. Mike Simpson, echoed Valadao, saying Republicans couldn’t find a better chair than Cole, “especially in these times,” with razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate.

“Leadership decided to go a different direction to do the year-long CR,” Simpson said. “It is not something that anybody on the Appropriations Committee wanted, but we had to do something, and Tom’s very good at doing that.”

“There’s not a bigger supporter of leadership in getting the job done than Tom is,” Simpson said.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Tom Cole’s Bipartisan Reputation Gets Put to the Test in Trump’s Partisan Washington appeared first on oklahomawatch.org

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content presents a balanced view of Rep. Tom Cole’s role and challenges as Appropriations chair, incorporating perspectives from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. It neither favors nor criticizes one side excessively, recognizing bipartisan respect for Cole while acknowledging the partisan difficulties intensified by figures like President Trump. The piece emphasizes negotiation, cooperation, and political realities without partisan spin, reflecting a neutral and fact-based tone typical of centrist reporting.

News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed

Arrest made in deadly Bricktown shooting

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www.youtube.com – KFOR Oklahoma’s News 4 – 2025-07-05 22:41:48

SUMMARY: An 18-year-old woman, Lyric Lewis, was fatally shot behind Harkins Theater in Bricktown. Police arrested 32-year-old Devon Stallings, who fired into a crowd before fleeing in a red pickup truck belonging to his parents. Witnesses say Stallings ran toward the group and fired shots. Lewis was taken to the hospital but died from her injuries. Authorities believe Lewis may not have been the intended target. Stallings has a criminal history, including a 2011 armed robbery conviction and a dismissed 2022 protective order. Police continue investigating the motives and urge the public to provide information.

Arrest made in deadly Bricktown shooting

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LOFT report uncovers what led to multi-million dollar budget shortfall

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www.youtube.com – KFOR Oklahoma’s News 4 – 2025-07-04 22:53:19

SUMMARY: The LOFT report reveals massive mismanagement at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services under former Commissioner Ali Friesen. Investigations found the department underestimated Medicaid costs, overspent on pet projects like an $18 million Super Bowl commercial and a half-million-dollar Hip-Hop Nutcracker movie, and misused millions meant for child crisis care and social services grants. Executive salaries nearly doubled, and funds were shifted across budgets to cover overruns. The new law prohibits such malfeasance, potentially leading to criminal charges. Critics blame Governor Kevin Stitt for failing to remove Friesen despite worsening financial issues.

LOFT report uncovers what led to multi-million dollar budget shortfall

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A Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Is Pushing to Make Healthier Food More Accessible to Tribes

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oklahomawatch.org – Em Luetkemeyer – 2025-07-04 06:00:00


A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to make permanent the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), which provides USDA food boxes to low-income Native American households. Established as a pilot in 2018, the program served about 50,000 people by 2023 and offers an alternative to SNAP with healthier food options. Legislation introduced by Rep. Sharice Davids aims to allow federally recognized tribes to administer the program themselves, increasing tribal self-determination. Despite uncertainty about support from Republican House leadership, the program addresses serious food insecurity issues on reservations and will be part of upcoming farm bill discussions.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to give low-income households on Native American reservations easier access to healthier food by making a food program established during the first Trump administration permanent.

The chances of the bill getting across the finish line are unclear. The lawmakers would need the backing of Republican House leadership for it to get a floor vote, and it’s at odds with much of the Trump administration’s priorities to cut federal funding.

But the lack of availability of healthy food on reservations is a rare issue that is of at least some concern to both parties.

“As my old committee colleagues know, I work on all sides of the aisle with every open-minded variety,” Rep. Frank Lucas, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said as he squeezed into an elevator full of lawmakers when asked about bipartisan work on tribal affairs.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provides a box of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture each month to income-eligible households on reservations. It began as a pilot program with the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations in the 2018 farm bill, and about 50,000 individuals were using the program monthly by 2023. The USDA describes the program as an alternative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that allows participants to choose from fruits, vegetables, proteins, cooking essentials and more.

After seeing its success, lawmakers are hoping to use the legislation introduced by Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids to make the program permanent. Any federally recognized tribe that participates in the program could administer the program itself.

“I would call it an overarching effort to make sure that tribes can have more self-determination,” Davids, who represents a competitive district in Kansas, said. “It’s a really good way to make sure that these resources get straight to tribal governments, so that they can then, as effectively as possible, get this nutritional food out to their communities.”

Davids, a Ho-Chunk Nation citizen, has lived and worked on a reservation, where access to grocery stores — let alone healthy foods and produce — can be scarce. She said this act is “a really good way for everyone to remember that these aren’t just statistics.”

“I lived in a place where it would take 45 minutes to get to a very small grocery store, and 90 minutes to get to what I think a lot of people might consider like a regular-sized grocery store,” Davids said.

Food insecurity is significantly greater for Native American and Alaska Native households than all U.S. households, according to a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office.

Ben Goldey, communications director for the House Committee on Agriculture, said in a written statement that the program would be part of upcoming farm bill negotiations.

“This is very similar to something that was part of the bipartisan farm bill that passed out of Committee last year, but ultimately did not make it across the finish line,” Goldey said.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill that just passed includes many of the farm bill programs that could pass through reconciliation, however many critical programs remain,” Goldey said, in reference to the reconciliation bill Congress passed this week. “As we turn our focus to what Chairman Thompson is calling Farm Bill 2.0 … this will be part of those discussions.” 

The offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not respond to Oklahoma Watch’s requests for comment.

Tribal leaders praised the pilot version of the program at a field hearing with members of Congress in April but said they wanted more agency over buying and distributing the food.

“The addition of the self-determination-type program, where we can purchase certain foods ourselves, is certainly something we welcome, and it has proven to be a very good change,” Gov. Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation said in the hearing.

Oklahoma is home to nearly 40 federally recognized tribes and would be one of the states that stand to benefit the most if the bill were passed.

“It worked spectacularly successful,” Lucas said of the program. “So we’re trying to make sure that opportunity is available for the other 500-some tribes.”

Rep. Tom Cole, a Chickasaw Nation member who, like Lucas, is a Republican, signed on as another co-sponsor of this act last week.

“A lot of [reservations] are food deserts, and the population is scattered and isolated — very, very rural,” Cole said. “There’s not the consumer base in many cases that you need to get the food diversity that, honestly, every American ought to have access to.”

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post A Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Is Pushing to Make Healthier Food More Accessible to Tribes appeared first on oklahomawatch.org

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The article presents a balanced and factual overview of bipartisan efforts to improve access to healthy food on Native American reservations. It highlights cooperation between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, quoting representatives from both parties without favoring one side. The language is neutral and focuses on the policy’s merits and challenges, avoiding partisan framing. The coverage of the topic respects tribal perspectives and policy details without editorializing, reflecting an objective tone typical of centrist reporting.

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