Republican House Speaker Todd Hiett said Monday that Rep. Lance Cargill is stepping down from the powerful position of majority floor leader and is being replaced by a freshman lawmaker.

Hiett also announced that the new floor leader, Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, will have diminished authority over the House and that the body's daily agenda will be set by a committee consisting of Sullivan and Reps. Mark Liotta, R-Tulsa; Jeff Hickman, R-Dacoma; and Dale DeWitt, R-Braman.

The committee is based on similar committees that set agendas for the Texas Legislature and in Congress, officials said. Previously, the floor leader had primary responsibility for setting the agenda for bills and resolutions voted on in the House, with the speaker having final authority.

Sullivan, an attorney who was elected to the House in 2004, said he looks forward to his new leadership role and working with other lawmakers to set the House agenda.

Particularly astute readers may recall Rep. Sullivan from last year, when his hate-filled statements described his hate-mongering bill that tried to dissolve Oklahoma County itself for daring not to discriminate against gay people.

As noted at the time:

You can believe one of two things about Sullivan:

1. He's your typical hate-filled right-winger who wants to make sure gay people have absolutely no legal protection while pretending that he's reasonable and hates discrimination, or
2. He's far, far too stupid to be writing laws and speaking in public, because he clearly doesn't understand anything he's doing.

Neither speaks well for the Tulsans who voted for him.

At least Hiett is smart enough to realize that Sullivan is not competent enough to hold this position, making sure Sullivan doesn't have the same power Lance Cargill had as majority floor leader. Hiett needed an idiot useful enough to spread the hate while not smart enough to run things on his own. Sullivan's actions prove he is exactly that idiot.

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