/ CBS News
The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 25, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, who is in Denver this morning. Congressman, our CBS polling shows Democrats are on pace to have a narrow majority of about 11 seats and that for most voters who are backing Democrats, they tell us their motivation is more about stopping Trump and GOP policies than advancing other policies. Is that how you think your party will govern the House in opposition?
REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: You know- you know politics is really interesting. There's a lot of weird things about politics in this job. But one of the weird things is when, you know, the political class comes out with polling and they're like, "Hey, Americans want to be able to pay their bills and afford health care and afford housing and- and groceries." I mean, that- that's just it always has been true, always will be true. It always will be the primary thing people are concerned about. It's actually what we're running on. As the battleground chair for House Democrats, I have recruited and mentored this battlefield of candidates. It's what they're running on, it's what we're going to win on, and it's what we're going to address when we get into power in January.
MARGARET BRENNNAN: Well, I take your point on polling, but at the same time, our poll shows 57% of voters don't think Democrats have a clear plan to do all the things that you just laid out. In Ohio yesterday, former President Barack Obama put the challenge this way. Take a listen.
[START SOUND ON TAPE]
FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We can't just be against something. We got to be for something. We got to start showing what a future on the other side of this administration can look like.
[END SOUND ON TAPE]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Excuse me that was Michigan, not Ohio. But the point he's diagnosing there or the issue he's diagnosing there you would acknowledge, and how, if you do in the House, how do you move any of the affordability platforms if Republicans control the Senate?
REP. CROW: Yeah, absolutely. And here's the honest- here's the honest truth: we're running against Donald Trump, we're running against MAGA extremism, we're running against corruption, but we are also running against our own history to some degree, right? It is true. I mean, I couldn't sit here in front of you and tell you otherwise. It is true that we have not addressed the issues that we needed to address in years past and in cycles past, and that's why we've lost, right? We've lost 90% of U.S. counties in fall of 2024. That is not a governing coalition. And we have to prove otherwise. We have to go to Americans, we have to go to working class and rural folks in particular, who haven't voted for us in cycles and said, hey, we have learned our lesson. We get it. We're going to be relentless about addressing your issues, rebuilding America's middle class. That is our charge and our responsibility, and it's our candidates that I am working with who are going to come in and they're going to lead that charge for us, and that's how we're going to have to govern.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you have also spoken about the possibility of investigating corruption should Democrats win. Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan recently spoke out at the University of Chicago. She spoke about investigations Democrats will conduct. And then she said this.
[START SOUND ON TAPE]
SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN: I want young people coming out of school to say, should I go work for the Trump administration? Like that sounds fun. I might get an opportunity. I want them to be like, Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don't want. And so let me avoid participating in that. I want that deterrence message sent.
[END SOUND ON TAPE]
MARGARET BRENNAN: So that remark was interpreted by many conservatives as a threat of persecution, if not prosecution. What do you make of what she was laying out?
REP. CROW: Well, I didn't hear the full conversation, and I- I can tell you I'm very close friends with Elissa Slotkin. She's a patriot. She's a public servant. She has spent most of her life in national security, working for both Republicans and Democrats. So there's just no question in my mind that she is pro public servant and pro public service, right, so I think the- the key here is is we don't want people to want to go to work for a corrupt administration to try to line their pockets, like that is not servant leadership. If the message is being sent from Donald Trump is, hey, come to work for me and you'll get a lot out of it and you'll get rich doing it. That's actually not public servants. That- that- that is the- that is antithetical to what Elissa and I- when we served in the national security infrastructure and we served in the military, in my case, that is- that is the exact opposite of what public service should be about, that- that is the message, right? What we want is a next generation of leadership to step up, young folks who are going to lead the way and help us build something new. You know, we are not going back. We're not going to just rebuild what once was, and we're not going to try to rebuild a system that actually didn't deliver for most Americans. We're building something new, that is America 2.0, the start up. And we need young folks across this country, particularly in the middle of the country, the heartland, to step up and to serve.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about national security issues. The Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, reported the U.S. received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel. Lethal plotting efforts was how he put it in a memo by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in the Middle East and other countries. You sit on the Intelligence Committee. We know that the U.S. has drawn down from some military bases, some diplomatic posts. What, if anything, can you tell us about this plot?
REP. JASON CROW: Well, Iran remains a danger. Pete Hegseth remains incompetent and is not doing what's necessary to protect our service members, which is why he's my priority number one if we retake the majority, to make sure we oust him from the Pentagon, because our service members actually deserve competent, serious, real leadership that will protect them and do the right thing. And they currently don't have that. But what's more is you know who is the primary supporter of Iran, who is providing intelligence and helping supply and provide targeting to Iran to kill Americans? Vladimir Putin and Russia. So, how about we talk about the fact that in the last two weeks you had Steve Witkoff go and sit across from Vladimir Putin and call him a humanitarian, and Donald Trump lifted and eased sanctions to provide tens of billions of dollars to the Russian war machine to try to kill Americans.That is- that is just beyond the pale, and- and Donald Trump needs to stop because he is putting our service members at risk, and Americans should be just beside themselves with this administration is doing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You talk about what has happened in the past few weeks with Russia and Ukraine policy. As of yesterday, Ukraine said that SpaceX satellite services have been fully restored as of yesterday. Elon Musk owns that entity. Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut has said the events with this disruption, which has impacted the battlefield show how a single point of control can be turned against the forces that depend on it, degrading service, disabled missions across a military theater. He wants to know who possesses the authority to alter these capabilities and safeguards. Is it truly the case that one man and his whim, an unelected official, can have such unilateral influence over our national security policy?
REP. JASON CROW: Yeah, it appears to be the case, and it's beyond disturbing to me, which is why I also wrote a letter directly to President Trump, along with Adam Smith of the Armed Services Committee and Jim Himes of the Intelligence Committee, both of my colleagues on those committees, senior members, saying we- we deserve answers. You know, it cannot and should not be the case that a tech oligarch, a private citizen, who has that much control over our national security, who is unaccountable, who is unelected, with zero transparency, is making life and death decisions on the battlefield in systems that our service members and our partners and allies rely upon. It should not be the case. And under this administration, they are allowing it to happen. And we're going to try to stop it because Americans deserve accountability and they deserve leadership.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, we got to leave it there, Congressman Crow. Thank you for your time. More Face the Nation in a moment.