Oklahoma's Sen. Inhofe Certain to Chair Armed Services Committee

For nearly six months, stalwart conservative Sen. Jim Inhofe, R.-Okla., has been acting chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee during John McCain’s bout with cancer.

With McCain’s death on Saturday, Inhofe is now almost certain to be named to permanently chair the Senate panel that oversees America’s defenses. 

Sources within the White House and the Senate almost universally agree that the Oklahoman will have a warmer and closer relationship with the President than McCain.

Inhofe—83 and a senator for nearly 24 years—has spoken extensively with the President on modernizing the U.S. nuclear capabilities and its artillery. Keeping up with China and Russia in both categories are major priorities of the incoming Armed Services chairman.

The same Administration sources say that Inhofe and Trump see eye-to-eye on a stronger U.S. relationship with Africa. Inhofe has a close personal relationship with several leaders of African countries, including those in Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

Inhofe strongly supported Trump’s presidential bid in 2016 and was considered influential in the President’s decision last year to end U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Change Accord.

Following McCain’s funeral, Senate Republicans are almost certain to name Inhofe to the chairmanship. Given his age and long tenure in the Senate, Inhofe is frequently asked whether he will retire when his present term ends in 2020.

The senator, a pilot and airplane owner, has a standard reply: “When I can no longer fly a plane upside down, I’ll consider retiring.”