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CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan challenged Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu on the party’s midterm election messaging, saying Democrats “lost” the fight over the record-setting Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
“OK, so you still believe that Democrats can retake the House?” Brennan asked Lieu, who represents California’s 36th Congressional District. “What is your main message?”
“The American people voted in Donald Trump because they wanted lower costs and he lied to them,” Lieu replied. “We have surging inflation, skyrocketing gas prices. The Trump tariffs have raised costs across many products across America. People are drowning in debt and in bills, and Democrats are going to reduce health care costs, lower costs across the board, reduce your energy costs. That’s the message we’re—”
“How are you going to do that?” Brennan interjected. “Democrats shut down the government to have an argument over health care, and they didn’t get any policy concessions, and premiums went up. You lost that fight.”
DEMOCRATS STRUGGLE FOR COHESIVE MESSAGING STRATEGY AMID SHUTDOWN STANDOFF
Rep. Ted Lieu speaks during a press conference at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3, 2026. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Lieu responded that the House passed an extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits for three years and urged the Senate to also pass that legislation.
Lieu added that “when we get control, we’re going to reverse the massive Medicaid cuts, the Medicare cuts and the cuts to ACA that Trump and Republicans put in last year.”
Rep. Ted Lieu on Face the Nation (CBS News)
TRUMP ENDS DHS’ MONTHS-LONG NIGHTMARE THAT LEFT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT WITHOUT FUNDING
The DHS shutdown began Feb. 14. On April 30, President Donald Trump signed a bill funding much of the agency, ending a record-setting 75-day funding lapse.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection sign is displayed at the Customs and Border Protection Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on May 18, 2025. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
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Notably, however, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will remain unfunded under the current legislation.