GENERALLY SPEAKING / From the desk of Gentner Drummond
In my two years as your Attorney General, one of my most important priorities has been to protect Oklahoma’s state sovereignty against the relentless overreach of the Biden-Harris Administration.
As we turn the page on that failed Administration, I want you to know the battles I have fought on your behalf. From exercising our right to crack down on illegal immigration to defending Oklahoma’s robust oil and gas industry against a radical agenda hellbent on its decimation, I have taken the fight to the Biden Administration on dozens of issues.
Illegal immigration At my request, our state Legislature last year passed landmark immigration reform with House Bill 4156, enabling state and local law enforcement to arrest immigrants who are in our state illegally. The law creates a new state-level crime called “impermissible occupation” and requires no federal authorization to enforce. This law is critical to eliminate Oklahoma’s proliferation of illegal marijuana grows, most of which are operated by illegal foreign nationals from Mexican drug cartels and Chinese crime syndicates.
You won’t be shocked to hear that HB 4156 was far too sensible for the Biden White House. Last summer, only three days before the measure was to take effect, that Administration swooped in and persuaded a federal judge to block the law. I have appealed that ruling and continue to fight to protect our families. When public safety is in peril, Oklahoma absolutely has a constitutional right to protect its citizens.
Protecting women’s sports Similarly, we pushed back when the Biden Administration radically redefined Title IX’s long-held protections for students to include gender identity. By then, Oklahoma had already sensibly prohibited biological males from competing in women’s sports. We have been successful in ensuring that females have a safe space in bathrooms, locker rooms and on the sports field despite the Biden Administration’s efforts. Healthcare Adequate healthcare poses another challenge when it comes to the Biden Administration. I have been fighting to restore our state’s Title X funding for healthcare services after the White House suddenly suspended the federal grant – administered by the state Department of Health for many decades – to punish Oklahoma for our pro-life policies. We are pursuing litigation to restore this funding that is especially important for rural Oklahoma.
Energy The Biden-Harris Administration has particular distaste for Oklahoma’s vibrant oil and gas industry, having rolled out a seemingly endless slew of regulation that would devastate our economy.
In October, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider my litigation opposing the federal government’s rejection of our state plan on ozone emissions. I began this fight after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to approve our “Good Neighbor” emissions plan required of all states. Instead of working with Oklahoma’s boots-on-theground experts to modify the plan, the Biden Administration slapped the state with a cumbersome and costly one-size-fits-all federal plan.
Similarly, I took the lead organizing a coalition of state attorneys general challenging an EPA rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. The would-be rule is a textbook example of that agency’s determination to quash our rightful authority to regulate such emissions.
With another coalition of attorneys general, we successfully blocked the U.S. Department of Energy’s ban on new liquefied natural gas exports. The proposed prohibition would seriously disrupt the development and production of natural gas, making it a threat to national security.
Thankfully, the Biden Administration’s war on our sovereignty will end Monday, Jan. 20, with the inauguration of President-elect Trump. I am excited for the return of strong leadership to the White House and what it means for Oklahoma.
My first two years as your Attorney General were spent fighting against the constant overreach of the Biden Administration. But my final two years as your Attorney General will be spent standing with President Trump to secure the border, deport illegal immigrants and make Oklahoma greater than it’s ever been.
