A member of Golkar, Agung previously served as Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet from 2009 to 2014 and as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2009.

Laksono would go on to serve as Director of PT Horizon Andalas Televisi, now known as ANTV from 1993 until 1998 and Minister of Youth and Sports in the Development Cabinet VII in the government of President Suharto.

On 13 December 2019, President Joko Widodo appointed Laksono and 8 others to become members of the Presidential Advisory Council with Wiranto as chairman.

On December 13, 2019, President Joko Widodo appointed Laksono and 8 others to become members of the Presidential Advisory Council with Wiranto as chairman.

[6][7] Laksono is known for critical remarks toward Singapore in response to the island republic's diplomatic calls to the Indonesian government to curb acrid trans-boundary haze that shroud large areas of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore annually as a result of extensive "slash and burn" cultivation in Sumatra, Kalimantan and other Indonesian territories.

[10] Laksono lambasted Singaporeans for "behaving like a child" when the city-state stepped up pressure on the Indonesian government to take definitive action to extinguish the Sumatran forest fires and bring those responsible to justice through stricter enforcement of laws against indiscriminate burning.

Laksono also told reporters that "Indonesian citizens also need to be looked after" before tending to other countries' interests, even though the world's largest archipelago is observed to be the primary source of the annual regional smog.

He argued that it was "not what Indonesians want, it's nature", despite the fact that it was clear even in the haze that were razing large areas of forested land for commercial plantations were certainly man-made events.

Laksono also reportedly remarked on more than one occasion that Indonesia's neighbours do not appreciate the fresh air that Indonesian forests bring to them, but complained about the haze when it only happens occasionally.