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Tom Cole: “I push the decision making down to my cardinals, like so…”

Featuring: Tom Cole, Republican | U.S. House Oklahoma, 4th Congressional District

The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK

Published June 30, 2026 | Video Starts at 27:34

That's one of the things we do. Now, as I do as chairman, I look, I don't want to make all the decisions. I push the decision making down to my cardinals, like so subcommittee Chairman, I got 12 of them. They're all good. I say you make decisions, I'll give you an allocation. You stay within the allocation. I don't care what you do. I support my chairman. (27:34–27:40)

CLAIM

Asserts that Tom Cole delegates decision-making to 12 subcommittee chairmen.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Tom Cole

“J.C. Watts, who is one of the best natural politicians I ever met. Only the second African American Republican elected in the 20th century.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 11:22-13:41
“In 2000, first time in 48 years, Republican Party wins the presidency, the Senate and the house.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 12:27-12:35
“There were about 160 seats in the country that were decided within five points one way or the other. Today there's maybe 40.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 31:53-32:02
“My mother had become a political activist. She grew up in a Democratic family in a Democratic state.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 02:34-02:42
“Her grandfather had been the last elected treasurer of the Chickasaw Nation before Dawes Commission in Oklahoma statehood.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 02:57-03:06
“His father had been an elected supreme court clerk, tribal supreme court clerk.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 03:05-03:14
“I was in London on a Fulbright fellowship.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 04:55-05:06
“I was teaching European history courses at the University of Oklahoma.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 05:09-05:14
“I went to a little state party sponsored campaign manager school for two days.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 05:14-05:33
“I put together a campaign and she won that time.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 05:37-05:41
“I was a pretty Decent football player. D3, not serious football.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 05:53-05:58
“I got a call from the state party chairman going into the 1980 campaign.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 06:46-06:54
“He said, will you take a year out of academic life and come and be the executive director of the state party?”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 06:53-07:00
“Congressman Mickey Edwards, who became the fourth ranking leader in the Republican Party, was the only Republican congressman in Oklahoma at…”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 07:36-07:51
“We picked up a governor's race for the first time in 20 years.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 08:40-08:45
“We picked up a second congressional seat with Jim Inhofe.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 08:44-08:50
“We had the most successful election in America if you were a Republican in 86.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 08:50-08:56
“State senate at that time was the most expensive state senate race in Oklahoma history.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 09:49-09:55
“The primary was in July.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 15:15-15:18
“It was a targeted NRC race.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 15:55-15:58
“I'm the only deputy whip back then.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 17:03-17:06
“Nobody else made it before their fourth term.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 17:17-17:20
“In 06, I ran for NRCC chair.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 17:47-17:52
“I chaired two dues drives for the NRCC along with Kevin Brady.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 19:40-19:46
“We hadn't gotten a big bill out in five years [from the Labor Health and Human Services subcommittee].”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 24:56-24:59
“We both like biomedical research, you know, so we can do that.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 25:26-25:31
“We both liked early childhood, which is a really good investment for the country to make.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 25:31-25:36
“We both like to do things for first generation college kids because I think that changes the whole trajectory of a family.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 25:38-25:47
“I'm a pro life Republican. We're not going to agree on abortion.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 26:13-26:17
“I'm a Second Amendment, you know, classic kind of Republican.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 26:26-26:30
“When I won in 2002. Right next door is Arkansas. Three of the four House members were Democrats. Both senators were Democrats, very…”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 29:50-30:06
“When I got here, Connecticut, where Rosa was from, five members, three were Republicans. They're all gone now. And it's unthinkable a…”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 30:06-30:18
“The blue places in the country have gotten bluer, the red places have gotten redder and partisan alignment.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 30:18-30:26
“In the history of Oklahoma, we didn't take the State House until 2004. We didn't take the Senate until 2008.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 31:05-31:13
“Today we have 48 senators in Oklahoma. 41 of them are Republicans.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 31:15-31:21
“83 of the 101 in the House. And, and these were people that a generation before were part of the Democratic.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 31:21-31:29
“We lose the majority in 2006. Re. You know, regain it in 2010.”
The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK | Uploaded June 30, 2026 | 32:24-32:24