James Lankford

Cosponsor · Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards; (2) annually submit to the CMS for publication specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations. The CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology must publish on the CMS' website a report that analyzes the information received from MA plans, the feasibility of implementing real-time decision making with respect to prior authorization requests, and the impact of decisions that are made using artificial intelligence on patient access.

Cosponsor · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Cosponsor · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Cosponsor · Combating Illicit Xylazine Act This bill regulates xylazine under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Xylazine, also known as tranq , is a nonopioid sedative and pain reliever that is approved for use in animals. Recently, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported an increase in trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. This bill adds xylazine, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers, to schedule III of the CSA.

Cosponsor · Laken Riley Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U. S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.

Cosponsor · Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 This bill makes daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time. States with areas exempt from daylight saving time may choose the standard time for those areas.

Cosponsor · Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nation-wide To Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration, and Management Practices Act or the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act This bill relocates 30% of employees of executive agencies who are based in the Washington, DC area and reduces the office headquarters of agencies by 30%. It also ends full-time telework for relocated employees and for those who remain based in the DC area. Under the bill, each agency must relocate at least 30% of full-time employees based at the agency’s headquarters, including full-time telework employees who receive DC-area locality pay (unless telework is an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act). The bill does not apply to certain essential employees in the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Cosponsor · Requiring Effective Management and Oversight of Teleworking Employees Act or the REMOTE Act This bill directs executive agencies to track employees' computer network activity, compare the activity of teleworking and on-site employees, and report on any deficiencies in the performance of teleworking employees. First, the bill requires each agency to establish policies to track for every employee (1) the average number of daily logins, (2) the average daily duration of the network connection, and (3) the network traffic generated while the employee works. This information must be collected from employees working primarily on-site within 180 days after the bill's enactment and from teleworking employees within one year after the bill's enactment. The bill also directs each agency to publish this data in the agency’s fiscal year budget justification materials, including a comparison of the average login rates of on-site and teleworking employees.

Cosponsor · Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 This bill generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls. Specifically, the bill provides that it is a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for federally funded education programs or activities to operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities that allow individuals of the male sex to participate in programs or activities that are designated for women or girls. (Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities, including in public elementary and secondary schools and in colleges and universities. ) Under the bill, sex is based on an individual's reproductive biology and genetics at birth.