The following is the transcript of the interview with Vice President JD Vance that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Oct. 12, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to Face The Nation. We begin today with Vice President JD Vance, who joins us from Cincinnati, this morning. Good morning to you, Mr. Vice President.
VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: Good morning, Margaret, thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We are getting very close to that 72 hour deadline for the hostage release. I think the world is holding its breath here. Is the administration seeing signs that Hamas and Israel are complying with everything they need to and that this will go ahead?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Yes, Margaret, so knock on wood, but we feel very confident the hostages will be released, and that the President is actually traveling to the Middle East, likely this evening, in order to meet them and greet them in person. It’s a big day for their families, but I think more importantly, it’s a big day for the entire world. The President of the United States said to his entire diplomatic team, especially Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to go and get a deal done, to stop the war in Gaza, to begin to rebuild Gaza so the population could live there in peace and prosperity, to actually eliminate the threat of terrorism to our friends in Israel- which is very, very important, and also to bring the hostages home alive. It was a very tall task. He pursued a very non traditional diplomacy with people who were not 40 year diplomats, but people who brought a fresh perspective to it. And of course, the President was criticized for it. The diplomatic team was criticized for it. But I think that because he chose a different pathway, he didn’t just do what everybody else in the past had done. We are now on the cusp of a sustainable peace in the Middle East. It’s a great moment.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Those are some very ambitious plans in phase two in particular, of this deal. Let me ask you about some of the details, because the administration has pledged about 200 US troops from Central Command to be part of implementing this deal. They’re not going to be in Gaza, but how long will they be involved here? And more broadly, is the Trump administration fully committed to keeping the pressure on? Because those things you just mentioned aren’t going to happen overnight in terms of dismantling Hamas and building towards a stable Gaza.
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: You’re exactly right, Margaret. It is going to take consistent leverage and consistent pressure from the President of the United States on down. I know the President is very committed to doing that, but you asked about the 200 troops from Central Command. I think you put it accurately. These are not troops who are going to be put in Gaza, but they’re troops who are already at Central Command. They’ve been at that base for many, many years, and they’re going to help monitor and mediate this peace. Inevitably, there are going to be conflicts here. There are going to be things that the people in Gaza disagree with Israel about, that the Israelis disagree with the Gulf Arab states about, we see our role really as mediating some of those disputes and ensuring that the pressure stays on everybody to achieve a durable and lasting peace. One of the under reported elements of this deal Margaret is that the President convinced the entire Muslim world really both the Gulf Arab states, but as far in Southeast Asia as Indonesia, to really step up and provide ground troops so that Gaza could be secured in safety. And that actually makes it possible to rebuild. It makes it possible to dismantle those terrorist networks. It makes it possible to ensure that lasting peace that all of us care so much about. So we think that the Arab countries, the Muslim-majority countries, are going to step up in a big way with troops on the ground, we’re going to continue to play our mediation role. And I think that’s a very, very good place for all of us to be. It’s been successful thus far, and of course, we’re going to work to make it as successful all the way through as we can.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Big picture, though, when it comes to American security. You said back in July that you’d seen what you called heartbreaking images of little kids who are clearly starving to death in Gaza and that quote, “Israel’s got to do more to let that aid in.” Are you concerned that even if, God willing, this war ends, America’s security has been endangered by this perception that America has been okay with Israel and in support of it, despite conduct that clearly you and the President didn’t agree with.
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, look, as the President said, you have to remember, the war started because of a brutal terrorist attack on Israeli soil, and we’ve been laser focused on eliminating the terrorist threat to the Israelis, while also ensuring that the innocent people in Gaza get the necessary humanitarian aid. That’s a difficult balance to strike, but I think if you look at the dancing in the street in Gaza, if you look at the way that the Gulf Arab states really the entire Muslim world, but also you look at how the Israelis responded. They were cheering at the mention of President Trump’s name yesterday in a massive rally in Israel. This is one of those peace deals where Muslims and Jews and Christians all seem unified that it’s a really good thing for the world. It’s a really good thing for humanity, and it happened because of President Trump’s leadership. So I actually think this peace deal will make us safer. I’m sure they’re going to be some hard feelings from the last couple of years of war. There always are. But if we can build a sustainable peace, Margaret, I am 100% sure Americans will be safer because of it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about what’s happening here at home, or perhaps not happening when it comes to negotiations to reopen the government. There were more than 4,000 layoff notices called RIFs, or reduction in force, announcements that went out Friday to workers across seven different agencies, including Treasury and Health and Human Services. Take a listen to how the President described this.
[SOT]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’ll be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly, because that’s the way it works. They wanted to do this so we’ll get little taste of their own medicine.
[END SOT]
MARGARET BRENNAN: How are you deciding who gets laid off?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, the main thing that we’re focused on Margaret is ensuring essential services remain open, and obviously, in a government shutdown, we have limited funds to work with, because the appropriations that keep the government running have not been made. That’s thanks to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. So we’re trying to do everything that we can to ensure that low income women and children get the food services that they need. We’re trying to make sure that we pay our troops because that matters for national security. We also want our people to get their paychecks. That’s where we’ve been focused, and unfortunately, what that does mean Margaret is that some federal bureaucrats are going to have to get laid off. This is not a situation that we’re excited about. We want the government to reopen, but Chuck Schumer, the Democrats decided to shut down the government, and we have to deal with the consequences in the administration, so that’s what we’re doing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, these aren’t furloughs. These are notifications of being laid off, of losing their jobs, that’s why it’s a little different this time, and specifically when it comes to what’s happening within the health sector. CBS did confirm on Saturday that the Trump administration went and rescinded some of the layoffs of hundreds of CDC scientists who were mistakenly laid off on Friday, and then told Saturday that’s not the case, but some of them were involved with the federal measles response. Some of them were involved with the response on Ebola. How does a mistake like this happen? Did the White House even talk to the CDC?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, so- so two- two responses to that, Margaret. First of all, I want to assure the American people that the frontline health care workers, the people who monitor measles, Ebola and other infectious diseases, those people are still on the job, and we’re trying very hard to figure out how to ensure those people get a paycheck, of course, because we want them to be happy and healthy. We want them to be able to do their jobs well. But the second point, Margaret, is the government shutdown inevitably leads to some chaos. We are figuring out how to take money from some areas and give it to other areas. That chaos is because Schumer and the far left Democrats shut down the government. We have to remember, Margaret, that the vast majority of Republicans and- and to their great credit, a number of moderate Democrats, have consistently voted to reopen the government. But if Chuck Schumer and the far left Senate Democrats are going to shut down the government, that is going to lead to some chaos. So you ask, how does this mistake happen? It happened because Chuck Schumer shut down the government, and we’re trying to make sure that essential services still function in the face of that shutdown.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But that was a White House decision to lay off these individuals. You heard the President talking about that. That- that wasn’t Chuck Schumer’s decision. I understand your broader point on the negotiations, but the layoffs came from the president and the White House.
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: But my point is, Margaret, that we have to do layoffs because we have to preserve necessary resources to do the most critical things that the government does, and in that phase, you’re going to have some chaos. You’re going to lay off people, frankly, Margaret, that the White House doesn’t want to lay off. We would like to reopen the government and ensure the essential- essential services stay on. But unfortunately, in an environment where we’re dealing with limited resources, where the government is shut down, we’ve got to move some things around. And in that moving things around, there is some chaos, there is some unpredictability, but we’re trying to do everything that we can with the- the hand of cards that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have dealt us. That’s our solemn promise, and that’s our duty to the American people, but there’s going to be chaos. That’s why we want to open the government. That’s why we want the Democrats to accept that the government should be open.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But are you confident that these job cuts are legal, that these reductions in force during a shutdown are going to withstand legal scrutiny, given that some unions are saying this is a violation of the Anti Deficiency Act?
JD VANCE: Well, we are confident. Margaret, of course, we always follow the law, and we always follow court cases, and we think that we have the authority to do what we need to do. I’m sure that some people will sue, and that will get figured out in court. But the reality is, we have to remember, why are we in this situation, Margaret? All these conversations about whether it’s a temporary layoff or a permanent layoff – we are dealing with a terrible, chaotic situation, because Chuck Schumer and a few far left Democrats decided to shut down the government. If they just joined with the moderate Democrats and the vast majority of Republicans, we can open up the government, and all of these conversations will no longer be necessary.
MARGARET BRENNAN: When I pressed leader Schumer on this program just last Sunday about this, about reopening the government, he said it’s going to take getting everyone in the same room with the President of the United States. Only the five people, including the President, he said, can solve it. Why doesn’t the President insist that lawmakers come back to Washington sit with him and talk this through?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, as Chuck Schumer said, it’s not all lawmakers. It’s the Senate leadership that really is driving this shutdown. The House has already passed a bill to reopen the government. It’s the Senate, and again, it’s a far left sort of contingent of Senate Democrats who are keeping the government shut down.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But the president says he’s a deal maker. Why doesn’t he force a deal here? Why doesn’t he tell Republicans like the speaker, get your lawmakers back here, come into my office, let’s hammer this thing out.
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Margaret, it’s a totally fair question, and the answer is, because this isn’t a deal making. This isn’t a negotiation. This is hostage taking. Chuck Schumer has not said to us, this is what we need. He said that unless you give us what we need, we’re going to shut down the government. That is a totally different thing. If Chuck Schumer wants to come into the Oval Office or come to my house, he is welcome to talk about how to fix health care policy for Americans. Of course, we want to lower insurance premiums. We want to make sure that the skyrocketing health care costs of the Biden administration start to level off and hopefully come down. That’s one conversation. But you don’t come into the Oval Office and say, unless you, the President of the United States, give us everything that I want, I’m going to shut down the government. I’m going to deny low income women and children their food benefits. I’m not going to pay the troops. That is what Chuck Schumer has put us in the situation of doing. We don’t negotiate with a person who has taken the entire federal government hostage over a health care policy dispute. And I think that basic principle you saw Barack Obama say this to Ted Cruz and a number of Republicans, we want to talk about health care policy, but we’re not going to shut down the government over this. That’s all that Donald Trump is now saying to Chuck Schumer and the far left Democrats: we are not going to negotiate over opening the government. We’ll negotiate on health care policy, but only once you do your job and open up the people’s government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, just a quick follow there. Though, what is your vision for that health care policy? Do you want these tax credits to fade out over time, extend them and then fade them out? Are you open to making them permanent?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, the tax credits go to some people deservedly. And we think the tax credits actually go to a lot of waste and fraud within the insurance industry. So we want to make sure that the tax credits go to the people who need them. We also think that Obamacare gave the health insurance industry a lot of ridiculous regulations that if we cut out, we could give people access to better health care at a lower cost. That’s what we’re working on. And again, I think there’s a lot of agreement, actually Margaret, that’s the crazy thing about this. There’s a lot of willingness to negotiate, a lot of willingness to compromise from both the moderate Democrats and certainly from the White House. But if the far left Democrats led by Chuck Schumer are going to shut down the government and refuse to open up the government unless they get everything they want, that’s not a negotiation, that’s a hostage taking, and we’re not going to reward that kind of behavior from Washington, D.C.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, Mr. Vice President, thank you for your time this morning. ‘Face the Nation’ will be back in one minute. Stay with us.
