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Fallin, Shannon Meet With Trump To Discuss Possible Cabinet Post, Infrastructure

Gov. Mary Fallin and her husband Wade Christensen look out from an elevator as she arrives at Trump Tower, Monday, Nov. 21, 2016 in New York.
Carolyn Kaster
/
AP
Gov. Mary Fallin and her husband Wade Christensen look out from an elevator as she arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Monday.

President-elect Donald Trump met with Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday to discuss a possible cabinet post. 

Updated 11:23 a.m.

Fallin emerged from Trump's office in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, saying she and the president-elect discussed his plan and agenda for the country and how she might be able to help.

"No, I was not offered a position. It was just an initial meeting to discuss a wide range of topics," Fallin told reporters gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower. The governor was accompanied by her husband Wade Christensen.

Fallin's spokesman Michael McNutt told The Oklahoman's Chris Casteel representatives from the Department of the Interior were present during the conversation. The agency includes the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Geological Survey:

“The governor is willing to do what she can to support the Trump administration lead America on the path to greatness. As the governor has said before, Donald Trump will work to make sure America feels safe again, create jobs, restore a sense of unity and optimism, and put constitutionalists on the U.S. Supreme Court.” Fallin also has experience in the areas overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation. She did not say Monday whether that was discussed.

Original Post

Trump’s top aide Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Fallin is being considered to head the Department of the Interior. The agency oversees most federal land and natural resources, and programs that relate to Native Americans.

Conway warned against drawing any conclusions from Trump’s meeting, saying not everyone who consults with the president-elect or meets with him will be in the Cabinet. Fallin’s name had been floated earlier this year as a possible vice presidential candidate. She spoke during the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Oklahoma City energy billionaire Harold Hamm is also reportedly under consideration for Secretary of Energy. As StateImpact Oklahoma has reported, the Continental Resources CEO served as a key energy advisor to Trump during the campaign and also delivered an address during the RNC.

Gov. Mary Fallin shakes hands with then-House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, during a press conference at the state Capitol - May 2, 2013.
Credit Sue Ogrocki / AP
/
AP
Gov. Mary Fallin shakes hands with then-House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, during a press conference at the state Capitol - May 2, 2013.

Shannon Sits Down With Trump, Top Staffers

Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon was one of more than a dozen people Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with over the weekend at the billionaire’s golf club and resort in New Jersey.

An email from the presidential transition team says the three discussed transportation, infrastructure, and issues related to Western land usage. Shannon said Monday soon-to-be White House Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus and top adviser Steve Bannon were present when he met with Trump.

“I got to talk about one of my passion issues, how we break the effects of generational poverty,” Shannon told Fox News on Monday. “How do we begin to allow kids who are trapped in failing schools to have a lot more choice about where they go?”

As both an African-American and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, Shannon addressed concerns Trump hasn’t done enough to reach out to minorities before or after the election.

“Raise your hand if you’re a conservative and you haven’t been called a racist,” Shannon said.

Shannon also said he and the new administration talked about what he described as “forgotten Americans.”

“At the end of every policy decision, there are men and women – single mothers – who are trying to make ends meet,” Shannon said.

Shannon didn’t offer specifics about a possible role in the Trump administration, simply saying he would serve where the president asks.

The Republican from Lawton stepped down from the Speaker’s post after a little more than a year on the job, and just one full legislative session. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the primary to then-U.S. Rep. James Lankford. Since then, he’s served as a consultant and public speaker based in Tulsa.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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