The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 8, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, good to have you here, Senator.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Thank you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You sit on many relevant committees, armed services, foreign relations. I want to ask you about this explosion overnight nearby the U.S. Embassy in Oslo. I understand that the Norwegian police say it may have been a deliberate attack linked to the current security situation. What do we know about the threat here and to other American posts?
SEN. KAINE: There are threats. Because of my service on the Foreign Relations Committee, I’ve been in dialogue with State Department personnel around the world. Escalated security, other embassies or consulates have had protests, protests that kind of were merging toward violence or at least frightening to our diplomats. We have American citizens stranded in the region. They were told to come home, but they weren’t told to come home until after commercial air flights had stopped. And so my office has been working with Virginians this week trying to help them come home. And so we owe it to our brave professionals wherever they are, and our citizens to keep them safe. And, Margaret, that’s just one more reason why I’ve been asking the question, have we learned nothing from 25 years of war in the Middle East? And with the arrival of the first American casualties back home yesterday, including a Virginian, I worry that the answer to that is no.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So do you have an estimate on the number of Americans still stranded in the Middle East?
SEN. KAINE: It’s thousands and thousands. Now, not every American chooses to come home. So there’s hundreds of thousands, if you just add them all up, who is coming home. I am working with the Virginians who are reaching out to my office. We were able to facilitate one Richmond area resident getting home from Dubai on a flight a couple of days back. And so it’s sort of dealing with that. But what worries me a little bit more is that some of the professionals at embassies and consuls are not being told to come home. And they’re sort of there, and often their security presence is not what we wish it would be. So we have to pay close attention to them.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about the homeland now. We’re in this fourth week of a partial homeland security shutdown. That means people at the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and TSA are not getting paid. But ICE and CBP are still funded. Given that the pressure from Democrats isn’t affecting the agencies where Democrats want to see policy change, is this really an effective strategy?
SEN. KAINE: Well, we have said to the Republicans, we’ve worked out funding for all those agencies other than ICE and CBP. Let’s just pass those funding bills. Let’s confine the ICE and CBP reform discussion just to those two agencies and fund the others. Thus far, Republicans have blocked those efforts. We want to fund TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard and CISA. We want to fund those agencies. And we have a funding agreement that’s already been negotiated between both parties and both houses. So let’s do that. And then ICE and CBP, the Republicans, gave them money last summer. They’re not running out of money. We can continue the reform discussion there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I ask because CBS obtained a Homeland Security critical incident note that cites Iranian religious leaders issuing fatwas, calling on Muslims to avenge the supreme leader’s death. DHS says that, you know, in the past, these kind of fatwas haven’t really inspired attacks necessarily but–
SEN. KAINE: –But you’ve got to be worried about it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –But you’ve got to be worried about it in this moment in time. So isn’t there a good argument to be made to move on this standoff, to end it?
SEN. KAINE: I completely agree. Let’s fund all these agencies that don’t have funds right now, and let’s confine the ICE and CBP discussion to what are the reforms necessary.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Why isn’t that happening?
SEN. KAINE: Well, we’ve offered this on the floor, and the Republicans have thus far rejected. They’ve said, you’ve got to fund everything or nothing. And we said, we’ve agreed on all the other agencies. Let’s do that. But ICE and CBP need reforms. We’ve made that very, very plain, and American citizens want there to be reforms. And so that is the focus right now. And they do have enough money because the Republicans provided to them last summer in the reconciliation bill.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We saw Secretary Noem lose her job this week. You’ve said you do regret having voted for her–
SEN. KAINE: –Big mistake–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –you were one of the Democrats who did–
SEN. KAINE: –she was a governor. Governors are often good cabinet secretaries. But what we learned, and this bears going forward, is that she wasn’t calling the shots. Stephen Miller is calling the shots. And as long as he is calling the shots without reforms, this is going to continue to be a very, very rogue, renegade department.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, do you need to see and hear something from Senator Markwayne Mullin to get you to vote for him if you’re saying he’s just going to be basically a puppet of Stephen Miller?
SEN. KAINE: That’s our fear. So he could demonstrate otherwise. But what we want to see is not just the change in the nameplate on the door. We want to see reforms to the way ICE and CB- CBP operates. They should operate like local law enforcement does, not invading people’s homes without warrants, body cameras, not wearing masks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Administrative, not judicial warrants, right?
SEN. KAINE: Yes–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –that they use.
SEN. KAINE: Well, for homes, I would say judicial warrants, I think that would be important for invading people’s homes. These are basic principles that our local law enforcement agencies live by. The Ashland town police lives by them. We should ask our federal agencies to do exactly the same thing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re on armed services as well.
SEN. KAINE: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Pentagon may be looking at a supplemental budget request to fund this new war in the Middle East. CSIS estimates the first 100 hours of the war cost nearly $4 billion. Have you heard an estimate on cost? Where are we on this supplemental? Will it get any Democratic support?
SEN. KAINE: We don’t know that the White House is sending a supplemental. So we had a classified briefing the other day, and the topic came up. What I can say, and it’s not classified, is the administration said they haven’t made a decision. My goals right now are twofold, stop this war, which I view as both illegal and profoundly unwise, and protect our troops. If a supplemental comes over, I’m gonna be looking to see, okay, how does it square with those goals? Protecting the troops is key. That’s one of the reasons I want to stop the war. I think they’re just exposed to a completely unnecessary risk by what President Trump has done. So we’ll look at a supplemental if they send one to see, okay, how does it accomplish those goals?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Did they tell you what that’s dependent on? Why don’t they know if they need more money? Is it the duration of time of the conflict?
SEN. KAINE: I think that’s the issue. You traditionally don’t ask for a supplemental halfway through because you might ask for an inadequate amount. I think they may not want to ask for a supplemental because they’re trying to avoid debates and votes in Congress on the Iran war right now. I put up a war powers vote that I lost earlier this week. But I can assure you, I’m not going away. We have other means to have a debate and discussion about whether this war is in the U.S.’s interest after 25 years of war in the Middle East. They may want to avoid a vote on that and are trying to delay it for that reason. They’ll make that call, and we have to look at the content.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Very quickly, I want to ask you about some of the Americans that are still being held in Iran, in Evin Prison. One of them, Reza Valizadeh, a journalist. One of them, Kamran Hekmati, a 70-year-old man. Do you have any idea what is being done to protect them or stop them from being retaliated against?
SEN. KAINE: I do not, and I fear about that. Look, if school kids are being killed in bombing, likely U.S. bombing, although the president and the secretary of defense are now trying to invent a claim that it was Iran. If school kids are being killed, I worry about the fate of U.S. pris- U.S. citizens who are being held prisoners there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we know the military is investigating that, Secretary Hegseth has said, in regard to the girls’ school. We have to leave it there. Senator, thank you for your time.
SEN. KAINE: Glad to be with you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will be right back.