Transcript: Rep. Jim Himes on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 29, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 29, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We now go to the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Jim Himes, who joins us from Greenwich, Connecticut. Hello to you.

REP. JIM HIMES: Hello, Margaret.

So you just heard the border czar, the White House representative here, make his argument. However, we are talking about politics. I mean the shutdown was intended by the Democrats to try to constrain ICE and how it was operating. But in reality, ICE is already funded. In fact, it’s one of the few DHS businesses where people are getting paid because they had a lot of money from the President’s last bill, and now their portfolio is growing because they’re in American airports all over the country. So what do Democrats get out of this disagreement?

REP. HIMES: Yeah, well, Margaret, the stand isn’t done yet, is it? The President is illegally paying, apparently, TSA agents. You had the Senate, as you said, and Mr. Honan-Homan, pass a bipartisan bill unanimously in the United States Senate that, look, let’s fund everybody, and let’s deal with this thorny issue about ICE. And then the Republican House says, hell no, we’re not doing that. And by the way, they mocked their Republican leaders in the Senate. So check it out- this thing is still very much alive for one simple reason. We can talk about the House, the Senate, to change the law, for one simple reason, which is that the majority of Americans look at the way ICE behaved with the killing of two American citizens, with the constant demolition of the doors of American citizens without warrants, people dressed like them, you know, flying in an airplane to Fallujah to do the legal work of following aliens, and they say that it is not right in this country for aliens. Our position is very simple, we want ICE to act like a police force, and that battle has not been won. And look, I’m sorry it’s tied up. I’m sorry that Republicans on one side of the Capitol said this was a good idea, and on the other side of the Capitol. They call it a joke, but we are ready to discuss something that is not a strong need. We just want ICE to act like a proper police officer.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So right now, the president is redirecting existing funding to pay for TSAs. He said he was paying them illegally. Do you believe you are breaking the law in this definition that the White House says they have?

REP. HIMES: Well, I believe you, I know you, right? I mean, if there is any power that Congress has, it is the power of the purse. Now this president has been saying consistently and around the world that he actually has that power–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –So they shouldn’t be paid?

REP. HIMES: –but any American who passed fourth grade civics- no, they have to be paid. This- they should never have been captured. And we had a unanimous agreement in the Senate, that if we pass right now, they would be paid, and we won’t talk about the constitutionality of the fund. But Mike Johnson, the leader of the House of Representatives, said no to what his fellow Senate Republicans said yes to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So there were three Democrats, however, who joined the board with Speaker Johnson’s version of the House of this bill, even if there are no new accountability measures in it, Congresswoman Glusenkamp Perez says she did that because she thought it was wrong not to pay people for their work, and the Democrats had set unattainable goals. He says that since the White House agreed to things like body cameras – doesn’t he have a point here that there is, as he puts it, ‘purity of ideas’ that interferes with working people?

REP. HIMES: So this is not a question of ideological purity. And I agree with Marie on one point, which is that people should not be held hostage. And we can come back to that. But these are not extreme demands by any stretch of the imagination. Also, we ask that boys not dress like Navy SEALs when they enter Minneapolis. We ask that they wear badges like all other police officers, have warrants when they break down doors.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And some of those things are agreed upon–

REP. HIMES: This is not ideological purity. This is basic legal compliance- yes, okay, so agreed, let’s enact a law that covers it. Because you know what, we don’t trust the president when he says, okay, no masks any more than we trust him when he says, oh, now I’m negotiating with the Iranians when they’re not there, right? So if this is easy, great, let’s codify it into law. But they’re not, you know- they’re not willing to do that. Now, when Maria’s right, and this is important, we are very used to using the shutdown as a way to get what we want legally. And what does that mean that people like TSA agents or people who work in the federal government for the Department of Agriculture or- get paid when one group makes noise, right? Now, this time, I believe that the American people – you know they have the Democratic Party and they say you’re not working like ICE did in Minneapolis, but we need to get away from legislating on closures that don’t fit the great country that we are.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, and they want their airports and basic government to work. But on this point that you raised, you said that the President is not really negotiating with Iran because you have not been told as a member of Congress about diplomacy. Or do you think he is lying?

REP. HIMES: I think he lied last Sunday, when he was told- and by the way, we’re in the same situation today, you know, oil prices are now $112 a barrel. And you know the future in the stock market is down 2%. Last Sunday, he realized, oh my God, I have a financial problem on Monday. So he just pretended they were in talks with the Iranians. Look under that statement, the Iranians have realized they are in control. They control the Strait of Hormuz. Gasoline prices have risen above $1 a liter, so the Iranians realize that, smokers, we have a lot to gain here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: In Islamabad today, there are a number of intermediaries who are communicating with the United States saying they are talking about Iran. But neither the United States nor Iran are at that table at this point in time. But further, the point of Iran, I know you care about what is happening in Ukraine. It is worth noting that President Zelensky of Ukraine has been in the Gulf for the past few days, and yesterday he said that Russia is providing a satellite image to Iran, and that image contains US military bases. He also said that Russia is providing intelligence and electronic intelligence to Iran. Do you know the evidence that Russia is actively helping Iran in its war with the United States?

REP. HIMES: Well, I have to be a little careful about this Margaret, because I review intelligence, and obviously I can’t talk about things that are classified, but boy, I’m not going to disagree with President Zelensky on that point. And I was going to ask the American people to think about what you think Putin is doing right now? For four years, properly, in my estimation, we have been helping the Ukrainian people to cause terrible damage to the Russian people. So what do you think is happening? At that time, as you know, we allowed the Iranians, so now the Iranians are getting billions of dollars to sell their oil to the Chinese to buy drones from the Russians. We allow the Russians to sell oil to get dollars to attack the Ukrainian people and use those dollars to attack- to help attack our military. I mean, you couldn’t do these things with a Hollywood script.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Secretary Rubio was asked about the level of aid that Russia is giving to Iran, and he downplayed it. He says it makes no difference on the battlefield. I know the French, I know the British have said that Russia and Iran are helping each other with drones here. When you heard Secretary Rubio’s statement, what did you think he meant?

REP. HIMES: I think it’s very interesting to Marco Rubio as one of the biggest proponents of this war that the American people now see it as a disaster, another dilemma for Marco Rubio to say things like, oh, it doesn’t make a difference. Well, I disagree with Marco Rubio on that point. You know, the Russians have capabilities, things like using basic satellite technology, that you can do to sell, by the way, to get our aircraft carriers. Our military bases in the region, Margaret, are currently uninhabitable. Why do you think that is?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, the Democrats have been making corruption a theme in their campaign against the President and to take back control of the house. Your fellow Democrat, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been found guilty of 25 felony counts related to stealing millions of dollars in COVID relief funds. Should he resign? Should he be fired?

REP. HIMES: You know, if he doesn’t resign, there will be a vote in the house, and you know, people will find reasons to support congress, just like the Republicans found reasons to support George Santos–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Should he resign?

REP. HIMES: –at a time when we’re at war, when fuel prices are so high, that shouldn’t happen. So I would hope that my colleague might avoid that outcome by choosing to resign. But it’s also very important that both sides are consistent in punishing moral lapses within their teams.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, you hope he resigns. Thank you, Congress for all your information today. We should leave it at that. We will be right back.