Transcript: Rep. Jim Himes on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," June 7, 2026

Face The Nation Transcripts Transcript: Rep. Jim Himes on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," June 7, 2026 .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-face-the-nation.jpg'); } June 7, 2026 / 11:08 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 7, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Representative Jim Himes, who joins us this morning from Greenwich, Connecticut. Welcome back to Face the Nation.REP. JIM HIMES: Good to be with you, Margaret.MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman, President Trump appointed the Federal Housing Finance Agency head, Bill Pulte, to be the next Director of National Intelligence. The President said it is temporary, but even in that acting role, he could stay in it for over 200 days, and it would bypass Congressional approval. Pulte himself was Senate-confirmed for the housing job. Three Democrats voted for him. Do you know if he has a security clearance to do the intelligence work?REP. HIMES: Well, that's a very narrow question, Margaret. I have heard a- a senator said that he did not have a security clearance, but that's almost beside the point, right? He doesn't have an iota of national security experience, and the president is putting him in this most sensitive of roles, and you know, you pointed out that he was confirmed for the sort of obscure Federal Housing Finance Agency job. This was before he used that job to try to go after the president's political enemies, Adam Schiff and Letitia James. And so now we've got a little bit more data on Bill Pu- Bill Pulte, and the reason this is so controversial is that we know that's his distinguishing feature. He's going to do whatever it is that he believes is in the president's political interest, and there is no way that the authorities and assets of the intelligen...