James Lankford Sworn In For First Full Term

At the same time our "state" lawmakers were being sworn in today, so were those representing us in Washington. Among them was Senator James Lankford, who's been in the news for other reasons.

This was the fourth time for Lankford to be sworn in, twice as representative of the 5th Congressional district, in 2011 and 2013, two years ago to fill out the term of Tom Coburn, and today.

Vice President Joe Biden, President of the Senate, administered the oath, swearing in Lankford and 33 others. The ceremony, along with a similar one in the House, formally opens the 115th Congress and marks the start of Lankford's first full six-year term.

His committee assignments remain the same: Appropriations, Homeland Security, Indian Affairs, and Intelligence.

And it's in that role, as a member of Senate Intelligence, that he appeared on CNN Monday night, saying he has no doubt about the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere with the election and it concerns him that President-elect Trump does seem to doubt that conclusion.

“It does concern me, only in the sense that I don't have that level of trust for Vladimir Putin. I think Vladimir Putin's going to do what's best for him and for Russia, I think we should do what's best for the United States on this. Vladimir Putin and Russians have been very engaged in trying to undercut democracies all over the region. That is not someone that we should have as a long-term ally,” Lankford said.

Lankford says the only problem he has with the sanctions imposed last week by President Obama is that, he thinks, they should have happened sooner.