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Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's foray into the federal bureaucracy as Environmental Protection Agency administrator doesn't seem to have diminished speculation that his ultimate goal is the U.S. Senate.

Although he remains mum about his long-range plans, Pruitt has long been seen as a potential successor to U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who would be up for re-election in 2020, when he turns 86.

Inhofe has not said whether he'll seek another term, but he has always been very complementary of Pruitt and, publicly at least, seems to regard Pruitt as a worthy protege.

In a piece published Wednesday morning, Politico suggests some of Pruitt's EPA initiatives are regarded as political theater. His proposed televised debates on climate change are viewed with particular skepticism, according to the piece.

"The man’s running for Senate (in 2020)," says David Bookbinder of the Niskanen Center, a libertarian-leaning policy institute that favors federal regulation of greenhouse gases. "Everything he says is calculated toward securing the Republican nomination in Oklahoma and then winning the general election there."