On this “Face the Nation” broadcast, moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- Rep. French Hill, Republican of Arkansas
- Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat
- Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of National Intelligence in first Trump administration
- Dr. Deborah Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator in first Trump administration
Click here to browse full transcripts of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington.
And this week on Face the Nation: The stress-testing of our federal government begins, as the Trump administration 2.0 prepares for its return to the White House.
Change is coming to Washington, along with chaos and the controversy typical of the former president’s management style. Seats in Mr. Trump’s Cabinet are filling up fast, and, this time, the president-elect is using his political capital to do things his way.
(Begin VT)
DONALD TRUMP (Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect): Forty-nine out of 50 states shifted toward the GOP, won the White House, recaptured the Senate, and now, as of today, recaptured the House.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will he use that mandate to circumvent what’s called regular order in the Senate to get some of the more contentious candidates through?
We will talk with House Republican French Hill and Democrat Jim Himes, and we will check in with two officials who served in the first Trump administration, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon and former coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx.
Plus, Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear offers his party some advice about how to succeed in a red state.
It’s all just ahead on Face the Nation.
Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.
There are just over two months before Donald Trump takes the oath of office again, but he is not wasting any time when it comes to naming candidates, mostly close allies and loyalists, for key administration roles.
Republicans will be back in control of the White House, the House and the Senate, and there’s a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. There are new Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. And the question of whether those leaders will bow to Mr. Trump’s wishes to do things his way or whether they will stand by the office that they hold is already being asked, even before the new Congress and returning president are sworn in.
We begin this morning with an update on the Trump transition and our Caitlin Huey-Burns.
(Begin VT)
CAITLIN HUEY BURNS (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump took some members of his transition team out to New York for a Saturday night at the UFC fights.
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: But here in Washington, he’s gearing up for a fight of his own over several controversial choices he’s made for his Cabinet, at the center, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
FORMER REPRESENTATIVE MATT GAETZ (R-Florida): We either get this government back on our side or we defund and get rid of, abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DOJ, every last one of them, if they do not come to heel.
(CHEERING)
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Gaetz is a fierce Trump ally who led the charge in ousting Kevin McCarthy from the speakership last year.
FORMER REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-California): I will give you the truth why I’m not speaker. It’s because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Gaetz resigned his seat in Congress this week just before that House Ethics report over alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use was set to be released.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had said he would not interfere, but, following an overnight trip to Mar-a-Lago, he changed course.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON (R-Louisiana): I think we should stick to the tradition and not release a report on a former member of the House, because it would open a dangerous Pandora’s box.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Gaetz was also under investigation by the very Justice Department he was tapped to lead over whether he had violated sex trafficking laws, but no federal charges were filed. Gaetz has denied all of the allegations.
The selection shocked the Republican senators he will need to get confirmed.
SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine): There are many serious allegations pending against him.
SENATOR KEVIN CRAMER (R-North Dakota): He’s got a really steep hill to climb to get lots of votes, including mine.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: But Trump is undeterred and says he’s motivated by a mandate.
DONALD TRUMP (Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect): The American people have just delivered really something very, very amazing, the biggest political victory in 129 years.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: And some top allies on Capitol Hill say he’s entitled to his choices.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-South Carolina): Election have consequences. He chose Matt Gaetz. Matt will come before the committee, and he will be asked hard questions, and we will see how he does.
(End VT)
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Trump also picked three of his defense attorneys to serve in top positions at the DOJ.
And he’s considering a shakeup of FBI leadership. Last night, Trump announced oil executive and climate change skeptic Chris Wright to serve as energy secretary. And we’re keeping an eye on other top positions that he could pick this week, especially who he will choose to run the Treasury Department, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Caitlin, busy week, and we’re starting a new one. Thank you for your reporting this morning.
And we are joined now by Republican Congressman French Hill. He joins us from his district in Little Rock.
Good morning to you, Congressman.
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL (R-Arkansas): Good morning, Margaret. Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Glad to have you here.
You served with Congressman Gaetz. You heard the speaker, who has said, while he doesn’t want to specifically wade into the Ethics matter, he also thinks it would set a bad precedent to release a report on a former member.
Do you think the Ethics Committee should make that decision for itself?
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: Well, I think the Ethics Committee does make that decision for itself. But I think Speaker Johnson makes an important point, which is, Mr. Gaetz has resigned from Congress. There are many investigations that the House Ethics Committee has done, and we don’t want to set a precedent where we, under any circumstances, will release documents from that committee.
But that decision is theirs. Speaker Johnson has made his views known, and now it will be up to the Senate to conduct their advise-and-consent confirmation process.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, CBS News reported back in June that four women informed that committee they were paid to go to sex and drug-fueled parties with Mr. Gaetz.
Also, the Ethics Committee has Venmo transactions showing Gaetz’s payments for the women. Since taxpayers paid money for this report to be conducted, and it was done, do you think, if you were a Senate, you would consider this material information to confirming the top lawmaker for the United States of America – law enforcement officer, I should say?
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: No.
(CROSSTALK)
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: Like I say, I don’t – I don’t have – I don’t personally know any details about the Ethics investigation or the allegations because I haven’t – don’t serve on that committee.
But your point is, would the Senate Judiciary Committee ask to see that report? And that may well be a decision that they take. And the Ethics Committee has a decision that they have to make. And Mike Johnson’s expressed his view on that as well.
So, as I say, this is an important process that the Senate has to do advise and consent for all the nominations. And President Trump has the prerogative to nominate the people that he thinks can best lead the change that he believes the American people are seeking in each of the agencies of the federal government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have spoken to us before here on Face the Nation about your work around Syria and Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive regime there. You actually visited Northern Syrian, an area that he wasn’t in control of, back in 2017, the first lawmaker since John McCain to do so.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, when she was in office, went to Syria and met with Mr. Assad himself. Then, publicly, she came out and questioned U.S. intelligence assessments of his chemical weapons attacks that were carried out on civilian areas, not just once, multiple times.
These were high-confidence assessments by the intelligence community. Would you feel comfortable with her at the helm of all 18 of them?
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: Well, I serve on the House Intelligence Committee during this past Congress, and I know the important job that the DNI performs in coordinating, collecting and reporting on our intelligence.
And I think, should Tulsi Gabbard be confirmed, she would know with high confidence as to precisely how we collect intelligence, how we coordinate and collaborate on it, and how we then report it to the president of the United States and to the two Intelligence Committees.
So, again, this is an important assessment for the Senate to make. But I remind you, Margaret, Donald Trump won the election. He wants people that he has a good relationship with, that he trusts, that he believes can do a good job in the agencies to send the message that we want change in Washington.
And the Senate too has their important job. And we’re going to have to wait and see how the Senate handles each of these confirmations.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, it was John McCain who went in 2017. You went in 2023. I may have misspoken there on the year.
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: Right. Right.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But – so you believe the U.S. intelligence community conclusions, though? You don’t mean to question those?
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: No, I don’t.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: I’m simply saying, as a member of the committee, I don’t question that public assessment that’s been made in the public domain over many, many years.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: And I have led the charge against the Assad regime.
I do not support that the Arab League put him back into diplomatic standing by admitting him to the Arab League. And I think America has a lot to do to limit Assad’s influence in the region, which is a partner with the Russians and the Iranians. And that’s not in the interest of the United States, Iraq, Israel, or peace in the region.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have also been a supporter of Ukraine. And you have been trying to find some creative ways to help allow them to gain access to continued U.S. support.
There was a tremendous attack just overnight there by Russia. The Biden administration wants to provide a $20 billion loan backed up by frozen Russian assets. Will the Congress give them permission to use that money for military assistance?
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: Well, the REPO Act that was included in the national security package I worked on very closely with Chairman Mike McCaul of the Foreign Affairs Committee gives the United States the authority to not only take frozen assets, but confiscate them and use them for the benefit of Ukraine.
The loan you’re referring to has been negotiated between the Europeans and the Americans to back the Ukrainian government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL: I believe that will go through, in my judgment.
But I would urge President Trump, as he takes office, to actually follow the law and confiscate those Russian assets, as I believe that gives both Ukraine, the United States, and Europe a much stronger negotiating position with Russia. And I don’t believe Biden, nor…
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