3 of Oklahoma’s top Republicans unilaterally push policy changes. We have a Legislature for that.

With some of the harebrained ideas that get tossed around every year, there’s understandably a joke bandied about in political circles that Oklahomans are safer when their legislators are not in session.

And, I’d say that joke has generally rung true — until now.

Suddenly we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of an episode of “Republicans Gone Wild,” and I find myself missing the checks and balances provided by the third branch of government — the Legislature.

Stecklein

While Oklahoma’s episode doesn’t feature scantily clad women (though we’ve sadly had allegations of that too this interim), it does highlight what appears to be a very disturbing trend of executive branch leaders demonstrating a propensity for scheming behind the scenes to circumvent the will of 149 elected leaders. They’ve astutely — and disappointingly — capitalized on the power vacuum that began in May at the close of the four-month legislative session.

Thus far, we’ve seen state Superintendent Ryan Walters insisting on an unfunded mandate that districts should provide free or reduced-price lunches — without legislative input or funding. And he has singlehandedly announced plans to eliminate statewide standardized testing despite state and federal law requiring those assessments.

Then we have Gov. Kevin Stitt who supported a decision by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to stop patrolling some of our busiest highways and interstates in urban areas, affecting law enforcement coverage for at least a third of the state. The Republican has also issued an executive order to end the state’s recommendation of fluoride in public water supplies and gotten permission from the feds to change the items that lower income people can purchase with food stamps.

And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve found out Attorney General Gentner Drummond has apparently plotted with the Trump administration to overhaul a state law that gives immigrants without permanent legal status in the U.S. access to in-state tuition and financial aid benefits to Oklahoma colleges and universities.

I can’t decide if Stitt, Walters and Drummond – statewide elected officials – are just completely incompetent and unable to plan, or if they’re signaling to Oklahomans that they don’t respect the decisions local voters made in selecting the state representatives and senators who represent their communities’ interests. These are the people in state government who are closest to the voter.

I’ll be the first in line to buy an oceanfront condo in the middle of the Sahara Desert if you can convince me these men didn’t already have these stunts planned and weren’t biding their time to launch these missiles on the unsuspecting public and suddenly powerless legislators.

I struggle to accept the seemingly autocratic style of government we’ve been forced to endure in the past few months, because this is not how good government should work. Our system of government has three branches — executive, legislative and judicial — for a reason. These branches are supposed to serve as a check and balance to make sure that policy priorities are being properly vetted.

I know the 2026 election season is already upon us. Drummond is running for governor and Walters is believed to be eying the same post. Stitt cannot run again due to term limits. But there’s no excuse for this behavior. Oklahomans deserve better than publicity stunts.

I suspect Drummond, as our state’s top attorney, knew that we had a law on the books that is written in such a way that it allowed immigrants who may not be citizens to receive financial aid like other students who graduated from Oklahoma high schools. But instead of working with lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session to address it, he enthusiastically announced he supported the Trump administration’s decision to sue us. We don’t need a legal representative who positions us for failure.

Walters, meanwhile, had an opportunity to set his priorities heading into the 2025 session. He didn’t publicly advocate for free lunches and the elimination of standardized testing until after the final gavel fell. He, of all people, should have understood that both policies require legislative input and funding. He either doesn’t understand how the process works or he apparently thinks the public isn’t smart and he can score political points at the Legislature’s expense.

And then we’ve got Stitt. He’s allowing an unelected bureaucrat to singlehandedly overhaul decades of Oklahoma Highway Patrol protocols without legislative input. I find it difficult to believe that the Highway Patrol didn’t know during the session that they planned to stop patrolling some of the busiest interstates and were planning to force local governments to pick up the slack. But if they didn’t know that, then I question Stitt’s appointment decision. Stitt could have easily told his agency head to hold off on the patrol shifts until February when lawmakers are back in session.

He didn’t do that.

Oklahomans deserve leadership from the officials we’ve elected to serve in our executive branch. It boggles the mind that none of these men are demonstrating any iota of that by refusing to work with lawmakers to advance key policy overhauls.

But by sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, legislators on both sides of the aisle are signaling that they’re willing to be doormats.

If they were really bothered by this rise in autocratic decision making, they could come back into special session and swat down these public ploys.

That would send a clear message that this is not acceptable.

Because there’s no way that few people at the highest echelons of state government know what’s best for Oklahomans living in all corners of this state.

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.