Editorial: Kansans in D.C.

Several officials from our state are in contention for top jobs in new Trump administration.

The state of Kansas could wield heavy influence in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

At least three high profile Kansans are up for jobs in the new administration: Congressman Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Gov. Sam Brownback. If all three appointments come to pass, that would certainly reflect well on the state.

Pompeo already has been chosen to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. The congressman from Wichita has served three terms in Congress representing Kansas’ 4th District. He has served on the House Select Committee on Intelligence where he has been an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama’s policies in Libya and Iran. Pompeo graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1986 and received his law degree from Harvard.

“He has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens,” Trump said in selecting Pompeo as his CIA director. “He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies.”

Kobach, who has served as Kansas secretary of state since 2010, is reportedly being considered for the role of head of Homeland Security. That’s not surprising given Kobach’s somewhat controversial immigration background. In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Kobach helped lead a team that helped establish the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. As secretary of state, he has championed strict voter registration laws. The laws took specific aim at preventing immigrants living in the country illegally from gaining access to the ballot box.

Throughout the campaign, Kobach has been a vocal Trump supporter and is serving on Trump’s transition team. This week, he was photographed with Trump after meeting with the president-elect. In the photo, Kobach is holding a document that appeared to lay out Kobach’s plans for leading the Department of Homeland Security.

Brownback reportedly is a candidate to serve as Trump’s secretary of agriculture. Brownback has refused to comment on such speculation. Brownback was elected Kansas’ governor in 2010 after serving one term in Congress followed by two terms in the Senate before being elected governor.

It has been a sometimes controversial and often bumpy road for Brownback as governor, but there is no question that he would be a capable secretary of agriculture and a strong advocate of the country’s farmers and ranchers.

To have three veteran lawmakers from a small state up for cabinet posts in the administration is a rarity. If it comes to pass, it bodes well for Kansas.