The following is the transcript of the interview with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sept. 28, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re back with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. She is a member of Democratic leadership, and she joins us this morning from Minneapolis. Good morning to you, Senator.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Margaret, great to be on again.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we just heard from my colleague, Robert Costa that the President indicated to him the likelihood of a shutdown, and with that, potentially mass firings. Do you think this is posturing, or do you worry your fellow Democrats are walking into a trap?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I am glad the president has finally agreed to meet with the leadership in Congress. He canceled the meeting last week, which I think was a big mistake, because this is an opportunity for the country because of one big problem. And that is that the Republicans have created a health care crisis. My constituents, Americans are standing on a cliff right now with these insurance premium increases that are upon them. So Democrats are united in pushing on this and saying, look, let us do something about this crisis before it is too late. Seventy five percent increase in premiums starting November 1, on people who are small business owners, people who are farmers out there, twice as much in the rural areas. So that’s what this is about to us, and the President prides himself in the art of a deal, this is the moment for him to meet with Democrats and come to an agreement.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So those premiums go up November 1. You’re talking about the extension of the health care subsidies, but insurance companies plan that year out, so these premiums are already priced in here. Why not agree to–
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: –Margaret, what we know is that these tax–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –government–
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: –If I could just, okay, go ahead, the tax credits are what really could make a difference here for people, because of the fact that we know these premiums hit November 1. Getting this done now is a now thing. It’s not a December thing. It’s not a January thing. It’s not an off ramp. It is something we have to get done now. As one of my farmers that I met with out in rural Minnesota said, when looking at the President’s tariffs and looking at what’s happened in farm country, five-year high in small farm bankruptcy, he said it’s a perfect storm of ugly. That’s where we are with the economy right now. And that’s why we are pushing on what is one of the biggest cost drivers for Americans, in addition to groceries and electricity prices going up, it’s health care.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But to be clear, you couldn’t take the seven week funding and then negotiate that, you’re saying it has to be agreed to right now.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: We believe this is a now problem, and while we are eager to talk with Senator Thune, I know Senator Schumer is to get this moving, in the end, we know that they are rubber stamped for what the President wants. Not everyone is like Rand Paul going off in his own direction and talking about the debt out of the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, but he’s right about that debt. He’s right about what happened with that bill, most of them are just going to rubber stamp what President Trump says. That’s why it was so important to get this meeting, and I hope he sees it, not as the president, not as political theater, but as real people who are facing a crisis right now, whether it’s in the cities, the suburbs or the rural areas of America.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You sit on the Judiciary Committee. So I want to ask you about what’s happening right now. Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert resigned after failing to bring a case against New York Attorney General Letitia James. We just spoke about her with Robert Costa. Monday, Lindsey Halligan was sworn in as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. She has never prosecuted a case before. Three days into this new job, she moved forward with the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey on two counts. Have you spoken to your fellow Republicans on the Judiciary Committee? Do they have concerns about what’s happening in Virginia?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, I plan on doing that this week. And what I see, this as a former prosecutor myself, this is weaponizing the Justice Department, basically taking a career prosecutor who was recommended by the Republican governor of the state of Virginia, clearly has Republican roots, who made a decision based on the evidence over a period of months, made a decision. Then he’s pushed out, forced out, so that the President can install his own aid into the job. When I questioned Attorney General Bondi during her confirmation hearing, she assured me that politics would not play a role that they would make independent decisions. That is not what this is. This is a vengeance prosecution. It is not about the law.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You also worked on investigating January 6, 2021, and the attack of the United States Capitol. FBI director, Kash Patel. Yesterday said publicly 274 FBI agents were quote, “thrown into crowd control on that day against FBI standards.” President Trump also said publicly that FBI agents acted as agitators who were secretly placed against all rules, regulations, protocols and standards into the crowd prior to and during the attack. This contradicts what the Inspector General said in a published report that said there was no evidence of undercover employees in the crowd, and that there were hundreds of special agents and employees who came in after the Capitol Hill police asked for them. This is now newly in focus, because the President put the focus there, what was the role of the FBI that day?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I chaired the investigation of the security problems, along a bipartisan investigation with Senator Peters and then Senator Blunt and Senator Portman. This went on. We had a number of open hearings, and we made major, major recommendations for changes at the Capitol and nowhere was it found that the FBI was acting as agitators. In fact, they were called in when there was such a delay in bringing in the military to insist- to assist in what was essentially an insurrection, where over 100 police officers were injured or maimed because of this criminal activity at the Capitol. So I just find it appalling that the President would say that the FBI was somehow part of this. Kash Patel did clarify that in fact, they were brought in after the fact, but they were brought in because we needed help. Senators, Republicans and Democrats were calling the military leaders. They were calling the Attorney General. They were asking for help because that help was not coming to the Capitol. And everyone has seen those facts.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, thank you for your insight there. We’ll be watching what happens here, as the President tweeted both of those things, and in reference to former director Chris Wray, we’ll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Sept. 28, 2025