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U.S. Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford fires back against Senator Chuck Schumer’s plan to do away with the filibuster.

In a statement, Sen. Lankford said:

"This is 250 years of history my democratic colleagues are planning to flush down the toilet because they don't get their way, on a bill we rightfully have very strong philosophical differences on. Hey, i don't agree on giving rapists and sex offenders or convicted felons voting rights when they get out of prison. I'm not alone in that. I don't agree in federal tax dollars being used to be able to pay for political campaigns. I'm not alone in that.”

Presenting his speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Lankford said removing the filibuster will silence the minority voice in the country. Lankford pointed to several Democrats in his speech that previously said that the Senate should never do away with the filibuster. Lankford remains opposed to removing the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate and remains opposed to what he calls the Democrats’ fifth attempt to federalize elections in the United States.

Last week, Lankford issued a statement following Sen. Schumer’s threat to override Senate rules to bend to his progressive legislative agenda saying, Schumer’s plan is “a threat to our Republic.”

In 2017, 32 Senate Democrats signed a letter saying that the filibuster should not change—27 of those Democrats are still in the Senate. Now that they are in power, they want to do whatever it takes to pass their progressive legislative agenda by changing the historic rules of the Senate.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Lankford joined his Republican colleagues in a joint press conference to discuss Schumer's latest attempt to nuke the filibuster.

This vote on the so-called voting rights bill would mark the fifth time Democrats have pushed to federalize elections in the US.