Transcript: Sen. Tim Kaine on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” June 28, 2026

The following is the transcript of an interview with Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on June 28, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who joins us from Brussels. Good morning to you, Senator.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Great to be with you, Margaret. Thanks.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you are in Europe, I want to ask you about exactly what is going on with the U.S. Army Europe General Chris Donahue. We know he was ordered by Secretary Hegseth to turn in his retirement papers, he’s going to relinquish command July 2, relinquish NATO command July 9. Do you have any indication why this very well-respected general is getting pushed out the door?

SEN. KAINE: Margaret, I am in Europe with a bipartisan delegation of senators visiting NATO allies and our troops, talking primarily about NATO summit next week and support for Ukraine. I will say on General Donahue, a lot of questions and very few answers. He was very well regarded in the Armed Services Committee, where I sit, both sides of the aisle thought really highly of him, and so the news that he was being ushered out caught us all by surprise, and we don’t yet have good answers from the Pentagon.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it’s part of a bigger question as to the changes Secretary Hegseth is making at the Pentagon. Retired Admiral Bill McRaven, people know him from commanding the raid to take out Osama bin Laden. He wrote a piece in The Atlantic, raising concerns about the exit and the firing of at least 12 other high-ranking military officials. He explained officers need to be “brutally candid” in order to give good advice. He said “these recent firings raise a real risk senior officers will be overly cautious about providing their best advice, and therefore the chance for military miscalculation will grow dramatically.” How concerned are you? Can Congress intervene and do anything here?

SEN. KAINE: Well, I don’t think that concern is misplaced. We’re worried about the same thing. Are you- are you pushing out the truth tellers to surround yourself by yes-men, and in particular, it looks like the secretary is coming down hardest- coming down hardest on the Army. He served in the Army, he felt like he wasn’t treated well by the Army, that’s a grudge he’s carried that he’s described publicly. And so, when you see Army officers forced out, you got to wonder, is this a personal thing, or is it really what’s best for the nation? So we are working on the defense bill right now. We’ve- we voted it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. There’s nothing in the bill at this point that would address this situation, but when we bring it up on the floor, I think by then, we’ll have some of our questions answered, and if we need to go farther to put some guardrails in place, you’ll probably find bipartisan support to do that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What are you hearing from your NATO partners there about the American plans to reduce the presence in Europe?

SEN. KAINE: So the- it would be difficult to reduce the presence in Europe, based upon some NDAA provisions that we have put in place that kind of set a floor in terms of U.S. troop strength. And here’s the good news, Margaret, both because of President Trump, but also, frankly, because the actions of Vladimir Putin, European nations are really stepping up their investment in their collective defense. They see the need to do it, and they understand that the United States is right there with them. There’s some political churn, no doubt about it. European nations are not only concerned about rhetoric coming out of the White House, they see a chaotic tariff policy as hurting their economies, but they also see the U.S. continuing to make sizable investments in European defense, troop presence. The Senate version of the Armed Services bill that we just passed has sizable investments for the defense of Ukraine, and I think you’re going to see some positives coming out of the NATO summit next week. That’s my expectation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you just mentioned the defense bill that is so significant, and we looked, and you said that for the first time in your 13 years on the committee, you voted against it. I understand you have objections to the Iran war, but given the significant military community you have in Virginia, and the need the military says it has, how can you defend that?

SEN. KAINE: Margaret, it was one of the hardest votes I’ve cast in 13 years in the Senate, but here was the reason. President Trump is seeking at least a 40% increase in the defense budget in one year. He hasn’t really told us where that money is coming out of. Is it coming out of education? Is it coming out of health care? And to vote for that kind of an increase without knowing where we’re going to pull the money from, in the middle of a war that I think is illegal, unnecessary, and foolish, and also to support that kind of an increase without guardrails about how the money is spent, I just couldn’t do it. Part of protecting our Virginia troops and going to bat for them is making sure that they’re- that when we use troops, especially when we go to war, we do it the right way, not the wrong way. Our troops have deployed into the Middle East often over the last 25 years, and an illegal war for kind of a suspect rationale- that’s no way to treat our troops.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I need to talk to you about more in regard to this, but I have to take a commercial break. So please stay with us, if you would. Senator Kaine, there in Brussels.

SEN. KAINE: Will do.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We return to our conversation with Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. Senator, I want to ask you a little bit about what’s happening here at home. There were three far-left candidates handpicked by New York City Mayor Mamdani, who won last week over more centrist candidates. Some are looking at that and saying the reach of the left wing of your party seems to be expanding, and here is what President Trump said. Take a listen.

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DONALD TRUMP: It’s becoming a communist party. These are not social democrats, these are hardcore godless communists. They’re godless communists. All communists are godless. They don’t believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence.

[ SOUND ON TAPE ENDS]

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you make of that attack here? And do you have concerns that the progressive platform of some members of the party will make it more difficult to win in other parts of the country headed into November? 

SEN. KAINE: Margaret, what the president said is just goofy word salad. I’m not an expert on New York House races, I am an expert on Senate races, and we have got Senate candidates all over this country flip- working to flip red seats blue by focusing on the president’s mismanagement of the American economy, families are suffering cost increases because of chaotic tariffs, illegal war and focus on goofy things like ballrooms, arches, and the reflecting pool. And in Virginia, at the house races, I’ve got four Democratic challengers running to flip red seats blue, who are focused on that same kind of cost and affordability agenda that led us to have a landslide win in state races last fall. So, I can’t really explain, you know, what’s on the voters’ minds in New York City congressional races, but I know what’s on Virginians’ minds, and I think I know what’s on Americans’ minds. Let’s focus on the economy and bringing costs down, not foolish wars and chaos.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, as Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said, the party needs significant new leadership because the old models are not working, and she pointed a finger at leadership. Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, said they need to make room for others who can adapt if they cannot. Do you agree with her assessment?

SEN. KAINE: Well, I don’t know exactly the context in which she was making it. Look, I do think some of these elections can show that there’s a, there’s a desire for new, and it’s a tough environment for incumbents. And that I think works to the Democrats’ advantage in November. Remember, primaries are interesting, but where you really make the difference is not trading out one Democrat for another or one Republican for another. Where you make the difference is flipping a seat from red to blue, and it is a challenging environment for incumbents, but that’s going to work to Democrats’ advantage in November.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you will continue to support Chuck Schumer as leader.

SEN. KAINE: Yes, he is. He was one of the best majority leaders we’ve had in a long time, and if he gets the chance, he’s going to be a good majority leader going forward.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, just to pick up on something Senator Cassidy said, he was talking about healthcare affordability. Is there any Democratic plan for health care or opportunity to work across the aisle?

SEN. KAINE: There is, and look, Bill has been a good chairman. I agree with him on a lot. We have some disagreements, but he said he’s been a good chairman of the HELP Committee, and we’re working on some affordability issues. For example, we have a bipartisan bill that we’ve enacted some pieces of, but we could do more to rein in pharmaceutical costs by more effective regulation of the PBMs, the pharmacy benefit managers. On the Democratic side, we want to reverse some of the harmful Medicaid cuts that the Republicans put in place a year ago, and we’ve had some interest by some Republicans in that, but reversing those Medicaid cuts and the cuts to SNAP benefits is something that we feel very, very strongly about as Democrats.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Kaine. Thank you for joining us this morning. We’ll have to leave it there.