A running chronicle of how power spoke about the moment
Each week, a television program becomes something more than broadcast — it becomes testimony. CBS News has archived the full 2026 season of Face the Nation, preserving the spoken record of how America's decision-makers described the world they were shaping: its wars, its economies, its borders, its alliances. In an era when public discourse moves fast and memory moves faster, such an archive quietly insists that words spoken in power are worth keeping.
- A single year's worth of political conversation — spanning cabinet secretaries, foreign heads of state, military commanders, and municipal mayors — has been gathered into one searchable public record.
- The archive captures a world under pressure: Ukrainian and Israeli officials, Iran's foreign minister, NATO's secretary general, and the IAEA director all appeared, reflecting a year of compounding global tensions.
- Domestic fault lines are equally documented — border policy, election integrity, energy transition, and economic anxiety each surface through the voices of those directly responsible for navigating them.
- By making transcripts from 2024, 2025, and now 2026 publicly accessible, CBS News is quietly building an accountability infrastructure — a place where what was said can be checked against what was done.
CBS News has released the complete transcript archive for the 2026 season of Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, extending a searchable public record of American political discourse that now spans multiple years. The collection documents the full sweep of the show's weekly conversations — a chronicle of how the country's leadership spoke about the defining issues of the moment.
The guest roster reflects the breadth of American power and its global entanglements. Cabinet members including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared alongside senators from both parties and House leaders like Hakeem Jeffries. Military figures — among them retired General Frank McKenzie and Medal of Honor recipients — discussed strategy and readiness. International voices were equally prominent: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Iran's foreign minister, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and ambassadors from Taiwan, Canada, and the United Kingdom all sat for interviews.
The archive extends into economic policy, public health, space exploration, collegiate athletics, and humanitarian affairs — with figures ranging from Federal Reserve officials and IMF leaders to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and former Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Four American mayors discussed municipal governance. Archbishop Timothy Broglio reflected on faith and military service. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado described conditions in her country.
For anyone seeking to understand how 2026 unfolded through the words of those who shaped it, the archive offers a rare and durable resource. Transcripts from 2024 and 2025 are also available, with earlier broadcasts accessible through CBS Footage Requests — part of a sustained effort to keep the historical record of American political conversation open to the public.
CBS News has made available the complete transcript archive from the 2026 season of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," adding another year to a searchable record that now stretches back more than a decade. The collection captures the full breadth of the show's weekly conversations—a running chronicle of how the country's political and policy leadership spoke about the issues of the moment, from the economy and national security to elections and international relations.
The 2026 guest list reads like a roster of American power: cabinet secretaries including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Energy Secretary Chris Wright; senators from both parties such as Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas; House members ranging from Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, to representatives like Jim Himes and Jason Crow. The archive also captures conversations with military figures—retired General Frank McKenzie, who led U.S. Central Command before becoming president of The Citadel; Medal of Honor recipients; and active-duty commanders discussing strategy and readiness.
Beyond the domestic political establishment, the transcripts document interviews with international figures who shaped American foreign policy that year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared, as did Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and ambassadors from Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Canada. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte sat for an interview, as did the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. These conversations form a record of how American officials and their counterparts discussed the year's most pressing global tensions.
The archive includes substantive discussions on economic policy, featuring figures like Gary Cohn, the IBM vice chairman and former director of the National Economic Council; Kevin Hassett, who led the White House Economic Council; and leaders from the Federal Reserve and International Monetary Fund. Election coverage is documented through interviews with Anthony Salvanto, CBS News's director of elections and surveys, and election law experts. Cybersecurity and intelligence matters appear through conversations with Chris Krebs, the CBS News cybersecurity contributor, and former intelligence officials.
Specialized policy areas are well represented. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed space exploration. The NCAA President Charlie Baker addressed collegiate athletics. Former CDC officials and the former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams appeared to discuss public health matters. Energy policy conversations included not only government officials but also the CEO of Chevron and analysts focused on infrastructure and global energy security. Border and immigration policy is documented through interviews with Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The transcripts also capture moments of national reflection. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, appeared to discuss faith and military service. Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, discussed humanitarian concerns. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was interviewed about conditions in her country. Four American mayors—from Oklahoma City, Mesa, Kansas City, and Miami—discussed municipal governance and federal policy.
For researchers, journalists, and citizens seeking to understand how 2026 unfolded through the eyes of those making decisions, the archive offers a searchable window into the year's major conversations. The transcripts span the full range of American governance: military strategy and defense budgets, trade negotiations and tariff policy, election integrity and voting rights, energy transition and climate considerations, immigration enforcement and border security, international diplomacy and alliance management. Each episode represents a moment when CBS News brought together a newsmaker and a national audience to discuss what mattered.
The network notes that transcripts from 2024 and 2025 are also available online, and that earlier broadcasts can be requested through CBS Footage Requests. The full 2026 collection is now bookmarked and accessible through the show's homepage and social media channels, part of an ongoing effort to make the historical record of American political discourse publicly available.
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a transcript archive matter? It's just words on a screen.
Because it's a record of what people in power actually said, not what they claimed to say later. When a senator discusses energy policy in July and then votes differently in December, the transcript is there. It's accountability made searchable.
But these are just interviews. They're not legislation or decisions.
No, but they're the thinking out loud before the decisions. You see how officials frame problems, what they claim to prioritize, where they dodge. A foreign minister explaining Iran policy in 2026 is part of the historical record of how that relationship evolved.
Who actually uses these?
Journalists checking what someone said six months ago. Researchers studying how policy was debated. Students writing papers. Historians eventually. Anyone who wants to know what was actually said, not what someone remembers saying.
Is there a pattern in who appears?
Yes. Cabinet secretaries and senators dominate because they have something to announce or defend. But notice the international figures—ambassadors, foreign ministers, NATO leadership. That tells you where American attention was focused that year. The absence of certain voices is as telling as the presence of others.
So this is just a library.
It's a library, but libraries are how we remember. Without the transcript, the conversation disappears into memory, which is unreliable. With it, the words stay fixed. That matters.