Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt is arguing governors — like him — should play a role in helping the Trump administration decide when and how to shut off the flow of money into states’ budgets.
“I think states need a seat at the table when we’re talking about spending cuts. That’s the big, big conversation,” Stitt told NOTUS on Monday, adding that block grants would help states meet the needs of their residents while still making cuts possible.
In Washington, some members of the Oklahoma delegation say he shouldn’t count on it.
Rep. Frank Lucas told NOTUS that Stitt’s idea “makes perfect sense to me, but right now, it kind of looks like [the Department Of Government Efficiency] is working in a world all its own.”
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“I don’t know that they consult with much of anybody before they make their decisions,” Lucas said.
Oklahoma Watch reported that about 40% — or over $14 billion — of Oklahoma’s revenue came from federal grants in 2022, helping fund state services like health care, education and infrastructure. But President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE have been slashing federal funding and jobs since the start of Trump’s second term, and how that will affect states is causing some state officials to worry about bills they’ll have to foot.
Enter Stitt, who’s been making the case since February that these cuts should have a “scalpel” approach
“If you think about, like, the Department of Education, for example, the states are who actually build schools and educate our kids, right? Whether it’s in Texas or Oklahoma or Kansas. ... What exactly do the billion people at the Department of Education do in the federal side, except make paperwork to rush down here?” Stitt said.
He went on to say that savings could come “from the federal bureaucracy” without needing to cut funding to the states.
Stitt told NOTUS he’s mentioned the idea of letting governors be more involved in decision making to Trump and some of his cabinet secretaries at meetings.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
How much agency the Trump administration has to determine spending is still a power struggle that is playing out in Washington, when it’s Congress that is supposed to have the power of the purse. But even among senior members of the House Appropriations Committee, there’s some reticence to the idea of letting governors have too much of a say over federal spending.
Rep. Tom Cole, the committee’s chair, said a conversation about cuts with governors would be “productive,” but he pointed to tension between states and the federal government.
“We want your input, but it’s not your money,” Cole said. “And these are federal programs, and sooner or later, we have to rightsize the federal government. It cannot continue to run this way.”
Still, he welcomed the idea of Stitt having a seat at the table. But governors will “get whatever seat the president wants to give them.”
“I would hope that we get into this kind of discussion and that the president involves every governor,” Cole added. “I mean, I think each governor knows his state better than anybody else in Washington probably knows his state.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin had doubts that Stitt would have much pull with the Trump administration given the governor’s history with the president — Stitt endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2023.
A spokesperson for Stitt did not comment on whether the governor’s past endorsement would be an obstacle to him getting more of a say in discussions regarding federal spending, but Mullin said he believed getting leverage would be “a little difficult” for Stitt.
“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I think that … it’s going to be a challenge to gain that seat,” Mullin said. “Now, the president loves Oklahoma and loves our state, so it’s possible.”
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Em Luetkemeyer is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Oklahoma Watch.
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