Transcript: Rep. Ilhan Omar on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” January 11, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, which aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on January 11, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who represents a large part of this city. It’s good to have you here.

REPRESENTATIVE. ILHAN OMAR: I represent the whole city. Thank you for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you. The Trump administration is actively telling the public that journalists are misleading them. You heard what was just reported at the scene. What we do know is that Renee Macklin Good and her partner were protesters. They were driving around Minneapolis. They were recording what some of these ICE law enforcement officers were doing. And the local police chief says Macklin Good blocked the street with his car. President Trump said the partner was a paid agitator, that’s the phrase he used. Secretary Noem alleged this was an act of terrorism. Given the heat that’s out there and the administration’s scrutiny, would you tell Americans that it’s too dangerous to protest and go out and document like she was doing?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: I think it’s really important for Americans to record to create the level of accountability and transparency that we need. What we saw in Minneapolis was ICE agents often jumping out of their cars. These are unmarked cars. Often they wear a mask. They approach, run towards the cars. They’re pulling people out of these cars. These people are often citizens. Often, these individuals have documentation of their legal right to reside in this country, and we know that DHS has repeatedly lied regarding these accounts. It is therefore even more important that there are eyewitness recordings every time these actions take place.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you see, from the recordings that we’re seeing, is there anything that you think was being done that shouldn’t have been done by Macklin Good? The administration says it was blocking the road. They claim it is an act of terrorism.

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: Yeah. Renée Nicole Well, as you hear her say, she’s not crazy. She sits peacefully in her car, waving at cars to pass. This officer, as you see, gets out of his car, automatically starts running towards her, trying to open her door. She’s scared, she tries to turn the wheel away. And then you see the other officer, who can clearly see that the car is moving, move towards the front of the car. And if they say he has 10 years of service and he’s trained, he needs to know not to try to get in front of a moving car, and so it’s not acceptable for Kristi Noem and the president and the vice president to make that kind of judgment without there being a full investigation, even though we can see from the videos that have been produced so far that what they’re describing is really not what’s happening. And so if they say we shouldn’t believe our eyes, then let the investigation play out before they label this mother of three a domestic terrorist. Show us what documentation you have. That, one, she was paid. Secondly, she was agitated when we hear her say that she is not angry, that she is not upset. She’s clearly trying to signal cars to go around her. And so it’s just that this level of rhetoric is unjustifiable to the American people.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Very quickly, you talked about accountability, and it’s important that people document what’s happening. I just want to be very clear, because the administration claims its agents are being stalked and harassed. When you talk about accountability, are you just describing the recording as she did it?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: I think it’s right for citizens to document what law enforcement is doing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: There was also violence against some of these officers.

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: Well, there was also violence against residents of Minneapolis.

MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s a lot of heat on your state right now. Treasury Secretary Bessent has called Minnesota ground zero for what may be the most egregious welfare scam in our nation’s history to date. 85 of the 98 people charged by the Justice Department in this welfare program are Somali. And you know, the Treasury Secretary is looking into whether some of the money was somehow funneled out of the country, he actually issued new standards. He’s going to do just that: forcing someone to reveal whether they’re receiving public assistance when trying to move money out of the country, and he’s lowered the bar for suspicious activity. What is the practical impact of this approach on the community?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: It just creates fear. What they are doing is creating confusion, chaos, trying to intimidate people and prevent them from carrying out their usual and normal activities. There is no justification in what they say. The 87 people you described as being investigated, many of whom have gone to trial, all occurred during the Biden administration. Nothing justifies this push. We know that ICE has the capacity to conduct raids. There is no reason for over 2,000 people to come to our city and create the level of terror that they have.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the administration argues that it has to do it because the state has failed to do it, right…

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: The state, the federal government and the state worked together peacefully and brought justice to these 87 people that you described. None of the operations they carried out resulted in any criminal activity. They haven’t been able to charge anyone yet.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the administration also announced that it was going to cut food stamps to Minnesota because it says some of the food stamp money had been embezzled. Are you confident…

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: And these are the things that are being litigated, and it’s again unconstitutional for them to do so.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But are you sure that the fraud that was discovered is no longer being practiced now? Is there any justification to say that this food stamp money is somehow being misused?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: There are ways to investigate fraud, as we did in Minnesota, and as the federal government did under the Biden administration. There is no reason for them to use this level of rhetoric. There is no reason for them to completely stop funding these programs. The only reason they are doing this is for public relations purposes, and it is hurting our state. This hurts my constituents and creates the kind of chaos and confusion that no one needs right now.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because the administration and many conservative allies within the administration argue that this is still a work in progress. There was this conservative influencer who posted this video that went viral, alleging that daycares were pocketing public funds…

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: And as you know, there were hours where these businesses were not operating.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, CBS did its own investigation…

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: –yeah, which again creates a level of confusion and chaos that is not necessary at a time when we are trying to deal with a serious problem that needs serious people to be able to solve it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But do you think there was no recorded evidence of fraud, according to the CBS investigation, but Governor Walz chose not to run for re-election. He dropped out of the race because of all this.

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: Because he wants to focus on defending our state and not on defending a siege.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think there has been a sufficient level of responsibility and ownership for the failure of oversight here? Do you think this is ending?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: That’s what we want. We want to collaborate [sic] working with the administration to try to ensure that there is no fraud being perpetuated in our state. What we don’t want is the level of terror, confusion, chaos that is being created without any results right now.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Very quickly, before he let you go, the chairman of the oversight committee said he wanted to refer you to the ethics committee.

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: I’ve been referred about 100 times, so go for it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It looks at your husband’s income and net worth. He said it was linked to private investment funds, but he seems to be insinuating that you are personally connected to this welfare scam. How do you respond to this?

REPRESENTATIVE. OMAR: Since I got to Congress, they’ve done these kinds of weird ethics investigations, none of them have turned up anything because I’ve been as transparent as possible, and there’s nothing wrong with any documents I’ve ever provided to the federal government.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Congresswoman Omar, thank you for being with us today. “Face the Nation” will be back in a minute. Stay with us.