Texas representative on ‘big, beautiful bill,’ Iran and immigration

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill."

Senate Republicans released the latest version of President Trump's massive spending and tax bill late Friday as the GOP eyes an ambitious July 4 deadline to approve the centerpiece legislation of the president's second-term agenda.

After the House narrowly approved the legislation that addresses the president's tax, defense, border and energy priorities last month, Senate Republicans have been putting their imprint on the bill.

But GOP leaders are seeking a middle ground to appease the upper chamber without alienating House Republicans, who will have to approve the Senate's changes before the bill can head to the president's desk for his signature.

The Senate voted Saturday to advance the measure, overcoming a key hurdle as the upper chamber works toward final passage.

At the center of the bill is an extension to Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slated to sunset at year's end, seeking to make the cuts permanent in what has been a key priority for Senate Republicans.

It also includes increased spending for border security, defense and energy production, which are offset in part by cuts to healthcare and nutrition programs.

According to Brennan, "GOP lawmakers like Thom Tillis [said] they can't stomach what this is going to do to Medicaid, an estimated $930 billion in cuts to it. That's more significant than what you all had voted to do in the House."

This prompted her to ask Rep. McCaul if he's going to vote on the bill again "for final passage if it looks like this," to which McCaul said:

"I'm going to vote for it for this reason. I think these numbers, it's all about waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid. What I'm voting for is a border security measure, $80 billion, $12 billion to reimburse states like mine. I'm voting for $150 billion that will go to our Department of Defense at a time when we saw with Iran, is desperately needed. The world is on fire, Eastern Europe, Indo-Pacific. And then the tax cuts. I mean, if we don't extend these tax cuts, it'll be the largest tax increase in American history for those three reasons. I'm a yes. I think everyone in the House, they know the peril they're in if they vote no on this thing."

Brennan followed up by asking McCaul what he means when he said "the peril they're in," and McCaul said, "I think, first of all, it's good for the nation. Secondly, they know that their-their jobs are at risk. Not just from the president, but from the American people. Our base back home will not reelect us to office if we vote no on this."

During the interview, Brennan and McCaul talked about Iran.

Top intelligence officials said last Wednesday that new intelligence showed the nuclear program had been "severely damaged" and its facilities "destroyed."

It would take the Iranians "years" to rebuild the facilities, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called it "an historically successful attack" in a contentious press briefing last Thursday.

However, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said "Iran has capabilities and could be up and running within a matter of months," prompting Brennan to ask McCaul if he thinks it's an overstatement by the White House or if it was a "mistake to declare mission accomplished," to which he said:

"First of all, I respect the IAEA. Their job is to inspect not to be an intelligence agency, so they don't really have the clear intelligence analysis that I would attribute to our intelligence community like the CIA. We met with Director Ratcliffe. It was not just his decision. These are career and intelligence officers that have been at the CIA for over 30 years that made this assessment that it was severely damaged and sets a program back a matter of years. In any event, the world and the Middle East is safer today than it was seven days ago, a week ago. That is highlighted by the fact that the proxies didn't light up. Russia didn't come to their- to their aid. China basically ran back for cover. Iran is on its own and psychologically, is very damaged. The deterrence is real. The damage is real. This is a masterful military operation, the likes of which I haven't seen since my father's war, World War II."

Brennan and McCaul then talked about immigration, with Brennan reporting 59,000 migrants have been detained in the United States.

"47% of them, though, lack a criminal record, fewer than 30% have been convicted of crimes," Brennan said before asking McCaul if the numbers show these are not "the worst of the worst," and McCaul said:

"I think they're running the numbers up because 15 to 20 million people came under the Biden administration, and they're trying to get some sanity involved in the United States. And I think deterrence is the key here. And it is working. You know, the apprehension rate at the border, and Texas is the biggest one, has gone down to almost zero. I mean, the border is just about secure, catch and release is over, and the threats are going away."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with McCaul, click here.