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Transcript: Sen. John Barrasso on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Oct. 11, 2026

2026-10-11T12:04:19-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Oct. 11, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we turn now to Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, who joins us from Casper, Wyoming. Good morning to you, Senator.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, it’s great to be here in Wyoming. I’ll be hitting the trail again tomorrow. It was interesting listening to Chris Murphy ignoring the craziness of the Democrat candidates for the Senate, and that’s why I’m going to be out talking about the difference between the common sense Republicans who I’m supporting and our party is.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: And the crazy Democrats who’ve been nominated and are now causing the direction of their party to go way to the left.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I understand you are headed to Midwest and the West. Of the 10 Senate battleground races CBS is tracking, six are Republican held seats. How challenging is this midterm going to be for your party?

SEN. BARRASSO: Well, I’m optimistic with opportunities to pick up seats. New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota- you talk about corruption, that’s what we’re seeing in Minnesota in their state run by the- the Democrats. In Michigan, I don’t know if you saw the debate this past week. El-Sayed was on, the Democrat nominee for the Senate in Michigan against Mike Rogers. He was asked, “Who’s more of a threat to the United States, Iran or Israel?” He could not answer and refused to answer the question. Everyone in the world knows that Iran is much more of a threat to the United States. They chant, “Death to America.” Israel is our friend and ally. He would not admit it. Iran is at war with the United States. They’ve been killing Americans for 50 years, and the candidate in Michigan is so extreme that he will not even admit the reality of what the American people see.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the Republican candidate in Michigan has tried to distance himself from the very war you’re talking about though. Mike Rogers has talked about the Iran war has got to end. He’s acknowledging that the high fuel prices related to it are a problem for him. How do you explain that?

SEN. BARRASSO: Well, everyone wants the war to end. Everyone wants fuel prices to come down who’s a Republican. Democrats don’t seem to want fuel prices to come down. They like high fuel prices. They were a lot higher when Biden was in office than they are today. And when you look about the lawsuits that the Democrats are bringing, you look about the fact that in- in California this past year they shut down two refineries. They are against fossil fuels.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well–

SEN. BARRASSO: Last week at the Supreme Court, there was a lawsuit to say–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: –we want to sue. They do- the Democrats sue oil companies for making gasoline because they say it contributes to climate change.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it’s- Colorado–

SEN. BARRASSO: Democrats want high gas prices. They want us in electric vehicles, and that’s- that’s the difference.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: That’s the difference between common sense–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

SEN. BARRASSO: –Republicans and these crazy Democrats who’ve been nominated all around the country.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Senator, I don’t- I don’t mean to cut you off. I want to let you finish this in a minute when we have more time. So, stay with us while we take the commercial break, and we’ll talk on the other side.

[ANNOUNCEMENTS]

MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We return now to our conversation with Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming. Senator, we’re talking about those upcoming midterm races and the pressure of higher fuel prices. We saw President Trump on Friday announce he’s going to start importing Russian diesel fuel to help American farmers, ranchers, and truckers, as he put it. Congress banned Russian energy imports back in 2022. And even more recently, they put in place more possible financial penalties to the buyers of Russian oil. Doesn’t the president’s action violate the laws? And- and how do you justify giving Vladimir Putin a lifeline?

SEN. BARRASSO: Well, the president is focused on getting down the cost of energy. He’s focused on ranchers, farmers, truckers, as you said. I’m right in the middle of that here in Wyoming. This is cattle country. I heard it last night in an event that I was at- the high diesel prices that are impacting everyone. The president is balancing and has to make tough decisions. He’s balancing his effort to stop and end the war of- Putin’s war in Ukraine and lowering prices for American families. What we really need to do long-term is produce more American energy, but we’re running into a problem with the Democrats who want us to produce less American energy and want high energy prices. So, I know what the president is trying to do. I agree, we need to lower the prices and the problem is the Democrats are blocking us long-term from doing what’s going to be best for the American people.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well–

SEN. BARRASSO: We all want this war to end. We want to do it as quickly as possible in a way that Ukraine is protected with long-term peace and that energy prices come down. And the sooner that happens, the safer America will be–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: –and the lower prices will be for American consumers.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But letting Russia sell oil would seem to put money and more mobility to Vladimir Putin and not necessarily make a dent in diesel prices, according to most energy analysts that I’ve read. Former Vice President Pence said the decision to lift sanctions on Russian fuel makes no sense and is a betrayal to the legacy and leadership of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. He’s talking about that Graham Law you voted for. And I know you’ve got to make a decision by October 18, at least the president does, about putting in place the powers you helped to give him to punish buyers of Russian oil. Doesn’t the president’s action make a mockery of that law you just passed?

SEN. BARRASSO: We passed that law to give the president the flexibility and the firepower to use another tool against Vladimir Putin. We want to end this war. We want to get fuel prices down. The president wants that as well. This is just another point of leverage for the president to use against Putin in an effort to get a long-term solution in that- in that part of the world. So, I want him to- I voted for that law. The president signed that law. And he needs to use that because he now has the flexibility to do it in the best interest of world peace and lower energy prices here in America.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about your role on Senate Foreign Relations. You have oversight there. The Wall Street Journal has had a series of reports about the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Can you confirm at all that there is an investigation on some level into her actions? Perhaps an inspector general probe, if not something more on the ethics front?

SEN. BARRASSO: Well, what we’ve seen in the reports is very troubling. It’s concerning and I’m sure there’s going to be an investigation. I would assume the State Department would be conducting that. I know that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have oversight and look into that as well. But I think the public has a right to know what was- what is found. And it is a- quite a bit of concern.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. I mean, among the things that were made public by a Trump donor were text messages in which she asked him to give her $100,000 to pay off credit card debt and asked not to put some of these things in writing because it could endanger her job. Are you comfortable with any U.S. official asking someone to pay off debt in exchange for access to government officials?

SEN. BARRASSO: No, I’m not. And you know, we’re going to be back after the elections, but for the next three weeks, we’re going to be out campaigning across the country, and I’m sure we’ll discuss that later. But the focus today is making sure that the American people know just how far to the left the Democrats have gone. And they are now the party, and they have- they have a manifesto. And you highlighted one of the candidates from Florida–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: –the Democrat nominee in Florida. They want to eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement, open the border. They want to open the prisons, put these people into our communities. They want to defund the military, defund the police, raise taxes to pay for health care–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well–

SEN. BARRASSO: –for illegal immigrants, and have boys in girls locker rooms. And when you were on with Murphy and you’d asked about the military–

MARGARET BRENNA: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: –the Democrats have blocked the National Defense Authorization Act.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

SEN. BARRASSO: He says, “well, we ought to not fund things.” This is the first–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well–

SEN. BARRASSO: –time in 65 years that we’ve not passed a National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the military, makes sure–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

SEN. BARRASSO: –they have what they need to be able to be the warfighters that they are.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

SEN. BARRASSO: And yet the Democrats are all voting no on supporting our troops.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he said that he did want more information. He said that briefings weren’t being shared, details weren’t being shared. So, approving money without those briefings is something he said he was not willing to do. Would you ask the administration to be more forthcoming and give details, including on these damage to bases?

SEN. BARRASSO: Well, you’re talking appropriation, I’m talking about the actual authorization act to get- make sure the military has what they want. The Democrats in the Senate–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Got it.

SEN. BARRASSO: –are so afraid of these candidates who have won nominations in primary elections, that when those candidates and their manifesto calls for defunding the military, all the Democrats in the Senate voted against the National Defense Authorization Act. And that’s just wrong.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Barrasso, we will watch what you get done in- on the campaign trail and when we get back to work in November. Thank you for your time. We’ll be right back.