This week on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the economy and affordability
– Bessent told Margaret Brennan the holiday season overall has been strong and that headline inflation has been pulled down, attributing remaining price pressure largely to services rather than imported goods. He argued real incomes are up about 1% and said the administration will continue working on affordability, while blaming the prior administration for “embedded” inflation.
– On tariffs and specific goods (toys, Tonka trucks), Bessent said imported goods inflation is lower than overall inflation and that services-driven inflation—unrelated to tariffs—is the dominant issue. He reiterated the administration’s focus on incomes, immigration policy, interest rates and inflation to improve affordability next year.
– On grocery and beef prices, Bessent defended the administration’s market actions and the president’s move to investigate price-gouging, saying prior actions didn’t work because they were not done properly and claiming the current approach is different.
– On agriculture and China, he said soybean prices rose after an agreed cadence of purchases and that trade certainty (12.5 million metric tons this year, 25 million metric tons annually in following years) will help farmers. He said some farmers will receive bridge payments because Chinese purchases were used as negotiation leverage and timing left farmers without near-term cash.
– On the new “Trump accounts” proposal, Bessent described a Treasury-managed, diversified investment account in the stock market for U.S.-born children with a $1,000 federal seed contribution for children born 2025–2028, portable at age 18 or convertible into retirement-style accounts. He said philanthropists may top up accounts and that more details would follow with a July kickoff.
– On Minnesota welfare fraud linked to Somalis, Bessent said IRS Criminal Investigations uncovered large-scale fraud and that transfers of stolen funds have been traced through wire-transfer organizations possibly into the Middle East and Somalia; investigations are ongoing. He criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar for downplaying fraud and said the Treasury is tracking money flows, not yet alleging links to terrorism.
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Minneapolis deportations, fraud and rhetoric
– Omar, representing most of Minneapolis, pushed back on Bessent’s claims tying donors or campaign contributors to the welfare fraud. She said she returned donations when she learned of involvement and had called for investigations earlier. She stressed that Somali Minnesotans are Minnesotans and taxpayers too.
– On the fraud case (called by federal prosecutors the largest COVID fraud scheme in the country), Omar acknowledged the harm and said she had urged oversight earlier, asking where safeguards failed and emphasizing the community’s own anger about the theft of funds that should have helped residents.
– On the administration’s stereotyping and rhetoric—President Trump’s harsh comments about Somalis and asylum restrictions—Omar said the language is dehumanizing and dangerous, and warned it could inspire violent actions. She noted most Somalis in Minnesota are citizens and stressed their contributions to the state.
– On ICE roundups and deportations in Minneapolis, she said most of the targeted people already had removal orders and were not undocumented. She rejected claims that the community is to blame, and compared anti-immigrant rhetoric to historical dehumanizing rhetoric.
House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes on the U.S. strikes against suspected drug boats
– Himes, one of the few lawmakers shown classified video of the Sept. 2 strikes in the Caribbean, argued the video should be made public so Americans can see what the strikes looked like. He said the classified views split largely along party lines and that he was “profoundly shaken” by what he described as lethal force used against people in situations that appeared to be outside combat.
– He described the difference between striking armed militants and targeting people clinging to debris or nearly incapacitated at sea. Himes said legal justification hinges on whether targets were “outside of combat” and thus protected.
– Himes disputed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s public claims and credibility about the strikes, saying explanations from the administration shifted (e.g., clearing wreckage for navigation, fear of recovered radios) and that the classified video undermined some claims—he emphasized the need for transparency.
– He said the administration appeared to use “signature strikes” against suspected drug runners without a congressional authorization that would apply to a war on terror framework. Himes warned about the focus of naval resources on low-level operatives rather than kingpins and questioned whether the action fit legal and policy precedents.
– On concerns about operational security, Himes reiterated that sharing sensitive information (e.g., using Signal improperly) can risk missions and that some Republicans privately express concern about how the operations were handled.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on vaccine policy changes
– Gottlieb criticized the advisory panel ACIP’s vote to recommend delaying the hepatitis B birth dose to 2 months in many cases. He explained the 24-hour newborn dose historically prevents transmission during delivery and markedly reduces chronic hepatitis B, which carries long-term risks including liver cancer. He said delaying the dose could lead to preventable infections in infants, citing modeling that suggested additional cases and deaths.
– He warned that ACIP, under the health secretary’s appointees, has been repopulated with members who are skeptical of vaccines and that this could erode trust in the advisory body. He said many states and insurers may decouple from ACIP’s guidance, relying instead on professional bodies like the American Academy of Pediatrics, and that the panel’s credibility could be permanently damaged.
– Gottlieb also criticized FDA internal changes that may require more data for vaccine approvals (e.g., moving away from immunobridging), warning this would slow seasonal updates and impede development and deployment of updated vaccines for influenza and other pathogens.
– He called for transparency on case adjudications about vaccine safety reports and urged public release of the case-level data the agency reviewed.
Other segments and notes
– Lesley Stahl’s 60 Minutes interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene about congressional loyalty and fear of presidential criticism was previewed.
– The broadcast included the weekly lineup of Face the Nation guests: Scott Bessent; Rep. Ilhan Omar; Congressman Jim Himes; and Dr. Scott Gottlieb discussing the FDA/CDC changes.
Overall, Face the Nation’s episode centered on economic affordability and inflation, agricultural and trade relief for farmers, the new child savings account proposal, an investigation by Treasury into the Minnesota welfare fraud and its ramifications for Somali communities, legal and ethical questions about U.S. strikes on suspected drug smuggling vessels, and significant debates over vaccine policy and the role of federal advisory panels.