/ CBS News
The following is the transcript of the interview with Democratic New Hampshire Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 11, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Congressman Chris Pappas, who's running for the U.S. Senate in his native New Hampshire, and he joins us from Manchester. Good morning to you.
REP. CHRIS PAPPAS: Hi, Margaret. Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, CBS projects that New Hampshire is no longer a toss-up but lean Democrat. So, what are you focused on in these final weeks of the campaign?
REP. PAPPAS: Well, we're taking nothing for granted in this race because New Hampshire is a purple state, and we're an all-election-day state where we don't have early voting generally in New Hampshire. So, it's focused on how we get to those independent swing voters, how we energize the base, how we reach out to Republicans over the next 23 days to win a tough race. Our Senate race in 2016 in New Hampshire was decided by 1,017 votes. I'm up against a candidate with a very famous political pedigree in New Hampshire. He's been a U.S. senator before, but this isn't about going back to the failed politicians with failed ideas from the past. It's about looking ahead to the future, how we muster the courage to stand up to a reckless administration that's making life more expensive, how we fight to lower costs--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
REP. PAPPAS: --how we connect with everyday Granite Staters about the kind of future we can build together. So, I'm hopeful about where we're going to end up at the end of this thing, but we've got to put in the work over the next 23 days in order to change things in Washington and deliver the results New Hampshire deserves.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Democrats do seem nationally to be running on an anti-Trump agenda. In your particular race, you mentioned John Sununu, your opponent. He doesn't make that strategy easy because he used to be a never-Trumper. He criticizes the trade war with Canada. He doesn't like Trump sending $5,000 checks out. He said it was a mistake to start the war with Iran without a strategy for the Strait of Hormuz, I mean, he has distanced himself in some ways from the president, though he is endorsed by Mr. Trump. How do you split that in the minds of the Republicans that you are trying to win over?
REP. PAPPAS: John Sununu has said it out loud. He said that this race is important to Donald Trump's agenda and to protect the gains that Donald Trump has made for the American people. Now I don't know what those gains are because if you're paying 1,000 bucks to fill up your home heating oil tank, or $6.50 to put diesel in your car for every gallon, or housing costs that are through the roof, you're not feeling like you're winning right now. So the fact is, Donald Trump has said this- that "pretend I'm on the ballot."
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
REP. PAPPAS: He's on the ballot through candidates like John Sununu, who will maintain his majority in the U.S. Senate, will make it harder for us to hold this administration to account to address the culture of corruption in Washington and fight to lower costs for New Hampshire families. So John Sununu stands with Trump in this campaign. He's been supporting his agenda. The fact is, the last time he was in office, he stood with George W. Bush for forever wars, privatizing Social Security, and tax cuts for the rich. That didn't work for New Hampshire then, and he doesn't represent the kind of future we need to lower cost and get this economy working for everyone.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But if Democrats flip control of Congress, what specifically does the party want to do to stop Mr. Trump, as you just laid out? I mean, is- is that impeachment? Is that investigation?
REP. PAPPAS: Certainly, there has to be accountability, and the American people deserve to know what's going on in the government, and any sort of corruption has to be rooted out. But we have to focus like a laser on the economic challenges that people are living right now. We have to put some wins on the board for workers and the middle class.
MARGARET BRENNAN: How do you do that?
REP. PAPPAS: We can do that by building on the success of the housing bill that we passed to invest in the affordable housing stock that we need, to work to end this war and lower energy prices, to restore the cuts to health care that are kicking thousands of Granite Staters off of their health insurance and making it harder for people to access the care that they need. So, we do have to focus with everything we've got on the affordability agenda- that starts in January, and I think that's both a short, medium and long-term strategy to take on the way this economy has been rigged and deliver results for middle-class families and workers.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said restore cuts to health care. I think you mean in the enhanced premium subsidies, so you want more government spending on healthcare- is that your platform?
REP. PAPPAS: I want New Hampshire families to be able to get a healthcare premium that makes sense for them, that will allow them to provide for their families. 17,000 folks in my state have dropped their insurance because of the failure to extend the ACA premium subsidies, and we're looking at a huge cut with respect to Medicaid that's going to devastate our hospitals, health centers, and nursing homes- cynically, timed to kick in just after this election. So, it's a focus both on making the Affordable Care Act work, taking the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies to account to lower prices, and making sure we're backstopping these cuts to Medicaid so that rural healthcare, healthcare for people in underserved areas doesn't get disrupted, and you know, destroyed by these MAGA cuts that were--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well--
REP. PAPPAS: --part of the Big Beautiful Bill last year.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, if Democrats do take control, there's also going to be that question of what is the unified vision for the party and can you unify your party? There's been a lot of focus on ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You sponsored a bill that would redirect $75 billion in ICE funding to local law enforcement agencies. You say ICE needs reform. That's different from some of your Democratic colleagues who are saying "disband ICE entirely," including just right next door in Maine, where Troy Jackson, who's running for Senate, says you got to break it up. Why is he wrong? Why is your approach the way to go?
REP. PAPPAS: Well, we have to be realistic. Donald Trump's going to be president for the next two years. We've got to find every point of leverage we possibly can to rein in the disgusting abuses we have seen from ICE. From next door in Biddeford, Maine, to Minneapolis, to Texas, this is unacceptable to people in New Hampshire, and it's unacceptable to voters across the political spectrum. So, we need accountability. We need to take back the extra money that they were given in that slush fund last year, $75 billion, with no strings attached by Congress, with no meaningful oversight. We need to make sure that ICE officers are conducting themselves like our trusted local law enforcement does, making sure that they're identified, that they have de-escalation training, that they have body cameras. All of that would be a step in the right direction. But the fact is, this is a nation of immigrants, and we have to make sure that we are going after the worst of the worst--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
REP. PAPPAS: --criminals that are violating the law, while also respecting due process rights and making sure that immigrants are part of our extended American family.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
REP. PAPPAS: And people in New Hampshire support that. And I hope we can get to the point where we're talking about immigration reform that will allow immigrants to follow a path, to work hard, to earn--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
REP. PAPPAS: --their citizenship, and to ensure that our businesses can benefit from that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, and then you'd have to work with a Republican president on those things. Congressman Pappas, thank you very much for your time. We'll be back in a moment.