The following is the transcript of an interview with House Speaker Mike Johnson that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sept. 14, 2025.
MAJOR GARRETT: The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who joins us this morning from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, it’s good to see you. I appreciate your time. The burdens of speakership are always manifold. You know that. Previous speakers I’ve covered know that, but they feel particularly heavy after the events of this week. I just want to ask you, Mr. Speaker, how are you doing?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: I’m doing okay, Major. Thanks for asking. No question, it was a difficult week for the country. Certainly, it was felt on Capitol Hill. There’s a mixture of, you know, anger and sadness and fear, frankly, on the part of a lot of people. It cast a large shadow across the country and the nation’s capital. But what I do know, Major, is that my good friend Charlie would not want any of us to be consumed by despair. He would want us to go forward boldly, that was his message, and to do it in love. And I think that, I hope, is the message that continues in the days ahead.
MAJOR GARRETT: It’s not common for this show to pick up on something said by Connecticut’s Young Democrats and Connecticut’s Young Republicans, but they put out a statement that has gotten quite a bit of attention on the internet, saying as follows, “there is no place in our country for such acts, regardless of political disagreements.” Do you believe on Capitol Hill there will be a method to forge any sort of bipartisan remembrance of Charlie Kirk?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: There will be. You know, we had a moment of prayer and silent reflection on the floor on Wednesday within an hour of his passing. There will be, I participated in a large vigil here in Baton Rouge at LSU, my alma mater, on Friday night. Tonight, we’ll have a big, I hope, bipartisan prayer and reflection vigil in Capitol Hill at the Kennedy Center. There will be a members reflection and prayer moment that I’ll lead on Monday night. This will continue. I think that the country needs to see leaders in Congress and leaders with platforms all around the country speaking truth and bringing calm to the situation. We should appeal, as Lincoln reminded us so many years ago, to the better angels among us all. And I think this is a real moment for America [TECHNICAL DISRUPTION] — affirmatively. And I think one of the ways to do that, Major, is to adopt the manner of Charlie Kirk because while he loved vigorous debate and he believed in the free marketplace of ideas, and advancing truth boldly, he also was motivated by love for his fellow man because he never hated the person on the other side of the table. And I think everyone would do well to be reminded of that model.
MAJOR GARRETT: Mr. Speaker, you mentioned the word fear a moment ago. It is on the lips of members of Congress in ways I’ve never experienced before. They are talking openly. They already have canceled events. Other members are talking about whether or not it’s proper in their family conversations to seek re-election. How do you feel this particular space of anxiety for your membership, Republican and Democrat?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Yeah, well, I’ve been talking with a lot of them over the last few days about that and trying to calm the nerves, to assure them that we will, we will make certain that everyone has a level of security that’s necessary, that the resources will be there for their residential security and their personal security. We’re evaluating all the options for that. But also, to be- to be, you know, reminded that it does take a certain measure of courage to step out and- and to lead. I mean, our first responders do it every day, our members of the military do it every day and political figures as well. But I think if we all adopt these practices together and we turn down the rhetoric, we, you know, cease with this idea that, you know, policy disputes are somehow an existential threat to democracy or the republic, we stop calling one another names. I mean calling people Nazis and fascists is not helpful. Look, there are some deranged people in society and when they see leaders using that kind of language, so often now, increasingly, it spurs them on to action. We have to recognize that reality and address it appropriately. And I’m heartened to know, Major, and to see that many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are stepping up and saying that and addressing it. I think this could be a turning point, frankly, to use Charlie’s term, for the country, and I hope that’s true.
MAJOR GARRETT: Would that turning point, from your vantage point, Mr. Speaker, because I know you had a long conversation with President Trump, extend to the White House itself?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Well, of course. Look, the President knew Charlie very well. He was like a family member to the Trumps. Many of us felt that close association with him, and he admired Charlie’s approach to public debate. And you’ve heard him say that publicly. He was- Charlie was a good man, and I think the best way we honor his memory is to continue to do that very thing, and not shy away from debate, to keep the free marketplace of ideas going, but to work on the tone of those debates. Because I think that- I think that serves the best of our principles, our Judeo-Christian heritage as a nation, our civil discourse, and we got to return to that.
MAJOR GARRETT: Mr. Speaker, several issues pending before Congress, not the least of which is keeping the government open. I know you prefer a seven-week clean CR, but there is a press for other issues. Extending Obamacare tax subsidies. There’s been a push this weekend for Russia sanctions backed by Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, in the Senate. Will either of those, from your vantage point, get into something to keep the government open?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Well, listen, we’ve been working very hard in the House to restore regular order in the appropriations government funding process, and that’s something that no one’s really seen for a long time on Capitol Hill. But I’m encouraged that, in a bipartisan fashion, our House Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 of the annual appropriations bills through the committee. We’ve got three off the House floor. The Senate’s passed a few, and then last week, we voted to move into a conference [TECHNICAL DISRUPTION] —
MAJOR GARRETT: — Okay, Mr. Speaker, I believe there’s a technical glitch that has forced us to lose your audio. We’re going to take a quick break, and we’ll come right back to House Speaker Mike Johnson in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in just a moment.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
MAJOR GARRETT: Welcome back to Face the Nation. Because technical gremlins lurk everywhere, they got in between my conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to have you back. You were in the middle of answering about Obamacare tax subsidies, possible sanctions against Russia and a government funding mechanism. Please continue.
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Yeah, sorry about the interruption there. Listen, we’re very encouraged that we’ve been able to restore the regular appropriations, regular order process —
MAJOR GARRETT: — Right, but are we going to get this done? Are those two other things going to be added to the process, Mr. Speaker?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: We’ll have to see. I got to build consensus around all of it, but I think we’ll need a short-term funding measure. A clean CR that will allow more time to figure all this out. We certainly hope that Democrats will go along on that, because, if not, they really have no excuse. If they shut the government down, it would be their unilateral decision to do so.
MAJOR GARRETT: And when Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, says, as he did this weekend, now is the time for Russia sanctions. President Trump opened the door on tariffs against India and China as a way to create economic leverage to end the war in Ukraine. Where do you stand on all that?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Listen, I do believe that desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think appropriate sanctions on Russia are far overdue. I mean, I think there’s a big appetite for that in Congress, so we’re willing to work with the White House and our Senate colleagues in the House to get that done and I’m anxious to do it, personally.
MAJOR GARRETT: Are you waiting for the President to give you the green light or might Congress act on this on its own volition?
SPEAKER JOHNSON: Well, Congress really can’t do this on its own volition because, of course, the President would need to sign whatever we do into law. So it has to be a partnership, but we defer to the commander in chief. I mean, the President is a strong and bold leader on the world stage. He has brokered peace around the world and other conflicts in a way that no one before him has been able to do, and so we’re trusting that he can use that same force and that same approach to bring about, finally, an end to this war in Ukraine. Everyone in America wants that bloodshed to end, and President Trump is forcing that, and I certainly [TECHNICAL DISRUPTION]–
MAJOR GARRETT: Okay. Mr. Speaker, I’m told that the technical difficulties keep arising, so a bit prematurely we’re going to end our conversation here to spare you and spare our audience from continued mayhem by technical gremlins. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time. Thank you for joining us on Face the Nation.
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