The following is the transcript of an interview with Sen. John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 6, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by one of the top Republicans in the Senate, Wyoming’s John Barrasso, the whip. Good to have you here in person Senator.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Thanks. Great to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So I want to ask you about what the Secretary just laid out. He did not describe this as leverage to get to a deal. He said this, take them literally. The tariffs are here to stay. We’ve already seen some conservative groups, like the New Civil Liberties Alliance, file suit saying that these are not on solid constitutional and legal ground. Do you think the president’s on solid legal ground?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, I think he is. But this is about a monumental change in the direction of our government. We are, and I’m talking about change in terms of the size as well as the priorities, and this is 180 degree change from what we had for the last four years with big government, big spending, big taxes, and we have a comprehensive economic plan to get to a strong, healthy, growing economy for the American people. That’s why we passed what we did just yesterday in the Senate, because we want people to have more- better jobs, more opportunities and more money in their own pockets. So in terms of the tariffs, I believe they’re a tool, and I think we have to go after China. They have been abusing us for years, and I believe the president is on firm constitutional grounds.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, what- when I hear you talk about sort of the one, two punch on the economic plan for the president, tax cuts being one of them. Isn’t there some coordination on sequencing here? Because wouldn’t you go ahead and remove the regulations and go ahead with the tax cuts before you go to war with the entire world over trade?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, the president has been talking about these tariffs every speech that I was with him during the during the campaign. There is no surprise here, he’s also talked about making sure we don’t have this $4 trillion tax increase that the Democrats want to have. We have a lot of work to do to reverse the damage that’s been done over the last four years with with the Democrats that led to the highest inflation in 40 years. So the president wants to get a lot of things done, and I want to get a lot of things done in Congress as part of this comprehensive economic plan.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m sure you saw the Fed chair also say that we may be facing inflation now in part because of these tariffs. You know, some in the Senate are very concerned about having more control and say over trade. Maria Cantwell, a senator who will be with us later in this program partnered with Chuck Grassley, one of the most powerful Republicans, with this bill to try to claw back control. They want 48 hours notice on tariffs. Suggests they didn’t get much this time, and they want them to expire after 60 days, unless Congress approves of them. Will leadership let this effort advance?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, Senator Grassley is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but let me just say the president is on firm legal grounds here. Over the last 90 years, Congress has given the president’s different presidents more and more authority to deal with national security issues, with regard to tariffs, to use tariffs with regard to unfair trade. So the president has the authority. I think this is similar to the bill that Chuck Grassley introduced about five years ago. They had debate then, many of the co-sponsors are the same. This will get a thorough hearing, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think, though, that Congress needs to have more of a say on trade issues?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, the Constitution says Congress has the entire say, but over the last 90 years–
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s not the way it’s playing out now–
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: –more and more authority have been given to the president to be able to be more nimble to react in terms of national security, in terms of unfair trade. And I think President Trump is doing what he has every right to do.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it sounds like you’re open to making that more clear on what the limits should be.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, there’ll be a discussion in the Senate. We’ll see which way the discussion goes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You mentioned the work that got done over the weekend. You did take this step forward in advancing the president’s tax agenda and raising the debt ceiling with this budget framework, you know what a fight you’re going to have with fellow Republicans over it in the house. Jodey Arrington, the budget chairman, called it unserious and disappointing. Accused your Republican colleagues of creating 6 trillion in new costs and a mere 4 billion in enforceable cuts. Is this headed for failure in the house?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: No, we are united in what we believe in terms of making sure we have a nation that is safe and prosperous. The Speaker of the House and the leadership of the House came out and endorsed what we have done, and said, hey, we ought to move ahead and take that next step–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Five Republicans have come out against it–
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: — so what we have seen–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –that’s a pretty narrow margin.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: But- but they all agree with what we want to do, which is unleash American energy to get energy prices down for people. They all agree that we ought to make sure that we don’t have these $4 trillion tax increases. They all want to make sure we secure the border. So all of the parts of what we have here are part of what we want to have done. Now I’m the whip. My job is to count votes. We need 51 in the Senate. They need 218 in the house. We have to iron out the differences. We’re committed to getting it done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we know they’re short about five votes right now. So it sounds like if you have to take another bite at the apple, the reason that this matters so much is procedurally, you’ve got to clear the way for all those big things you want to get, done, like the tax cuts by September. Speaker Johnson said he wants it done by May. Senator Lankford said it has to get done by August. Does all the instability speed things up for you?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, I’m not worried about deadlines. I want to get- I have an urgency to get it done as soon as we can, so we can get these policies in place and also to provide the certainty to people who are worried, are my taxes going to go up at the end of the year? They want to have the confidence that they’re not going to go up. I think the more certainty we can provide to the to the folks around the country that they will see that we have- on the right path for a strong, healthy, growing economy, and we want to get the country back on track, and the sooner we can get this passed, the sooner we can reverse the damage the Democrats have done over the last four years.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You got to get speaker Johnson to wrangle those votes though, which you admit they’re not there right now.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, we’re going to put the language together. We do have to iron out the differences, and I’m committed to getting it done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So in about 18 months, Congress will face elections, these midterm races. Here’s your fellow Republican, Senator Rand Paul.
SEN. RAND PAUL: Historically, tariffs have also led to political decimation. When McKinley, most famously put tariffs on in 1890 they lost 50% of their seats in the next election, but Hawt-Smooley put on their tariff in the early 1930s we lost the House and the Senate for 60 years.
MARGARET BRENNAN 6:22
Are you afraid history is going to repeat itself in 2026?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, no, I’m not. There’s a long way between now and the 2026 elections. President Trump won based on two things that the Democrats were the party of high prices and an open border. No one doubted president Trump’s ability to get the border closed and 137,000 illegal immigrants in March of last year, Biden this past much down to 7000 so he has been able to do that. Republicans are going to be judged on the economy, which is why I’m not
MARGARET BRENNAN: And the Fed’s chairman is saying inflation is going to potentially go up and there’s great uncertainty.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: That’s why I want to get this comprehensive economic plan in place as soon as possible. The certainty that the tax increases are not going to be there, the certainty that we have American energy and those jobs, the certainty we’re bringing jobs back into the country, all of those things are going to make sure that by the election, 18 months from now, that people say, yeah, we’re on the right path. Republicans have gotten the country back. Country is back on track right now from I think it’s even your own CBS poll in terms of right track, wrong track, right direction, wrong direction. We’re at the highest we’ve been in 20 years, in terms of the direction the country is heading.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But that was pre tariffs. Senator Ted Cruz said this,
TED CRUZ: Tariffs are a tax on consumers, and I’m not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers, so my hope is these tariffs are short lived, and they serve as leverage to lower tariffs across the globe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s a lot of concern, including from your your old friend Mitch McConnell. When do you get concerned that this is going to hurt the economic story you are trying to tell?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: Well, you won’t be surprised. Ted and I were on the floor just two in the morning. I said, you know, I bet Margaret’s going to show that tape of what you just said about tariffs, and we joked about it a little bit. But there is concern, and there’s concern across the country. People are watching the markets. This is not a surprise. People are concerned about this. 40k- 401ks, retirement plans. They do the best when we have confidence in the future, when we have a strong, healthy, growing economy. And that’s why we have a comprehensive economic plan to deal with all of this, to making sure the taxes don’t go up, to cut so much of this reckless Washington spending, people saw the list of all the terrible things we’ve been spending money on the last four years, and people were offended and angry at that. What we’re doing is also cutting a lot of this reckless Washington spending gives people more money in their own pockets.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Markets move a lot faster than Congress does, Senator. So you’ve got your work cut out for you, but we appreciate you laying out the details for us.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO:Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.