Transcript: Sen. Chris Van Hollen on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” May 18, 2025

The following is the transcript of an interview with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on May 18, 2025.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we are back now with Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Good morning and good to have you here. 

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Good to be here, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We just showed some reporting from our colleague, Debora Patta, with incredible pictures from our- our shooter inside of Gaza, Marwan. It’s hard to look at pictures of children in that level of starvation. You have said the Israeli government is starving civilians, and the U.S. is complicit in the gross violation of international law. The U.N.’s begging to go in. The Israeli government says they don’t want to work with the U.N. here. They want to work with this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that’s just being set up. What do you know about this? Should there be U.S. support for it?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: So Margaret, you’re right. It’s very hard to look at those pictures, and the United States has been complicit. President Trump was in the region and really did nothing, said virtually nothing about what’s happening in Gaza, which is on- on fire. We’re in 77th day of a full blockade. Two million Palestinians are starving. This is collective punishment that is clearly illegal under international law. And this other idea that’s been cooked up, either by the Israelis or by the Trump administration, is clearly not fit for purpose when it comes to trying to address this burgeoning famine. And all it will do is further allow food to be used as a weapon of the war. So I hope the United States will back off this plan. None of the credible international organizations have said that they will participate because it violates, you know, international norms and how it’s structured. And so I hope the United States will back off and immediately call today to allow the trucks right now that have food to be able to come, provide food to starving people. These are provided by international aid organizations.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is there anything that the United States can do in terms of leverage? You were- you’ve been bipartisan in your criticism. You said that what happened in Gaza is a black stain on Joe Biden’s legacy as president. You are criticizing the current administration for not doing more here. What leverage is there? I mean, is what you’re saying falling on any ears that want to listen?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I’ve had conversations with some people in- in the Trump administration and made clear that they need to do more. One of the very obvious things they could do is President Trump today could call upon the Netanyahu government to let aid in. I mean, the President acknowledged there are people starving in Gaza the other day. He said so. But why hasn’t he called on Netanyahu to let the aid in? Let’s just start with that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we’ll follow the diplomacy that Steve Witkoff is leading. I want to ask you about what’s happening here at home. The Treasury Secretary this morning, is dismissing the news that Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded America’s credit, the first time since 1917 now all three agencies have said the US fiscal situation is unsustainable. Moody specifically said the upcoming bills and spending reductions won’t make a difference. You’re an appropriator. You are in a position of power here. What is going to happen with Capitol Hill and the President’s agenda? Is it going to be much of a fight? Is there going to be anyone pushing back because of this?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Oh, yes, Margaret. What you’re seeing is the Republican plan, the Trump plan is essentially to give these huge tax cuts to very wealthy people and corporations at the expense of everybody else. They’re going to cut Medicaid, they’re going to cut food and nutrition programs, but even after those cuts–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –They say they are not, as you know–

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: –but even- well, it’s in their current House bill. They have $700 billion in Medicaid cuts and 300 billion in food nutrition programs in the House bill now. I mean, they can always change it. But even after that, they’re going to- this will result in a huge spike in the national debt. And so that’s why Moody’s is warning people that we’re going down this road, and it will have a direct harmful impact on every American, because what it will do is drive up interest rates. Right? Just like the Trump across-the-board tariffs are raising prices, so will these big deficits and debts they incur.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Moody’s also says, though, that this has been cumulative, which means Democrats bear some responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in now.

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Just on that point, I put forward a variety of plans to close tax loopholes for the very rich to begin to address the deficit problem.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Speaking of responsibility, I’m sure you’ve been tracking all the headlines and the conversation about President Biden and what happened with that debriefing of him by the Special Counsel Hur during that Justice Department investigation of his mishandling of classified information. No charges were brought, but the audio of that was obtained by Axios, and it- you hear the president halting at times. Remember Hur was the one who said President Biden was a sympathetic, well meaning, elderly man with a poor memory, and Democrats really pushed back at the time at that saying that sounded very political. In hindsight, do you think Democrats were too willing to look the other way? 

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, hindsight is 20/20. We know a lot more now than we knew then. I can just say personally, I had limited interactions with President Biden at the time. He came to the Key Bridge in Maryland when it collapsed, and we had a good conversation. So hindsight is 20/20. Obviously, if we could redo this tape and play it over again, we would do things differently. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you feel like you have to explain and defend that now? I mean, there was a piece in The Washington Post from Dan Balz who said Democrats are either- were either covering up then or covering their behinds now.

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: No- well- look- I mean, I think we can acknowledge that this was a-  people overlooked a serious problem or were just not aware. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Willingly? 

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I don’t- I can only speak for myself. I didn’t- I wasn’t aware of this, but we are focused on the future right now. I mean, right- right now we have the Republican tax plan, which is a giveaway to the rich. We have- you know, we didn’t talk about it, but Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, my view, is the overall narrative here was selling out US national interests for the private gain of his family business. He essentially gave away the crown jewels of American AI and semiconductor technology to the Gulf in exchange, in exchange, it looks like, for a $2 billion investment in the Trump family stablecoin venture.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Another topic. But on this point, I hear you want to look forward. I do too. But don’t Democrats have to reckon with this and say to the public that the answer to that question- you know?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN:  I think we’ve all acknowledged that if we had the benefit of hindsight, we would have done things differently. I don’t know if all of us have. I recognize that, but at this point, it seems to me, the American people are much more interested in the conversation as to the future of our country and the damage that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing every day.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Van Hollen, thank you for your time today. 

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be back in a moment.