Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference, was interviewed on "Face the Nation" on Sept. 6, 2026. The interview covered President Trump's plan to hold a midterm convention in Dallas, which some argue could be detrimental to his approval ratings. According to CBS, Trump's current approval rating is 39%. McClain defended the convention, saying its goal is to unite Republicans and share their accomplishments, including securing the border and passing tax cuts.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
President Donald Trump was furious about leaked information about the US military's munitions stockpiles, and as a result, the Pentagon subjected approximately 50 members of the Joint Staff to polygraph tests in August. The tests were conducted after news reports detailed how the conflict with Iran had strained US supplies of critical munitions, including long-range missiles and Patriot air-defense interceptors.
The investigation was part of a broader effort by the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Justice Department to identify and prosecute people suspected of leaking sensitive government information to the press. No one failed the polygraph test questions intended to pinpoint the leaker, according to multiple sources, including CBS News.
This move has been seen as a show of force aimed at not just ferreting out anyone who may have shared information but also intimidating others who might do so in the future. The Joint Staff is responsible for coordinating operations, policy, and war plans with combatant commanders around the world, with between 1500 to 2000 officers and officials working there.
It's worth noting that polygraph tests are not uncommon in the US government, especially for high-level security clearance holders who could be subject to testing every five to seven years. However, the scale of this investigation is unusual, with multiple sources suggesting it was a response to Trump's personal frustration over the leaked information.
Written for “Pentagon Polygraph Crackdown” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 21 other(s) covering the same event.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Lisa McClain, Republican of Michigan, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sept. 6, 2026.
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that → follow → Sept.
We turn now to Congresswoman Lisa McClain.
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We → turn → McClain
She is the chair of the House Republican Conference, and she joins us today from New Haven, Michigan.
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she → join → Haven
You also work on messaging.
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You → work → messaging
I want to ask you about President Trump's plan to hold this big gathering in Dallas.
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I → want → Dallas
His approval rating currently is 39% according to CBS.
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rating → accord → CBS
He says put the focus on him, though, for these midterms.
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He → put → midterms
Pretend he is on the ballot.
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he → pretend → ballot
Isn't doing that possibly helping the opposition?
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doing → do → opposition
Well, I don't think he thinks so, and I don't think so either.
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I → think → ?
Listen, Trump is absolutely on the ballot, right?
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Trump → listen → ballot
But the whole goal of the midterm convention is to get Republicans together and share the stories of what we've done through this Congress and the past two years, and get our base fired up and united.
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base → get → Congress
And I'll remind everybody what Republicans did was secure the border.
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did → remind → border
We passed the largest tax cuts in history.
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We → pass → history
We want to keep more money in your pockets.
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We → want → pockets
And what our goal is with the midterm convention is really compare and contrast the two roads: one communist crazy versus traditional American common-sense values.
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is → compare → values
So that's the goal of the midterm convention, and I'm pretty excited to go.
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I → go → convention
Well, Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report said of your party's prospects in the midterms, Republicans should brace themselves.
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Republicans → say → themselves
What he was zeroing in on are the tariffs and the fuel and fertilizer costs that are hitting rural voters.
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that → zero → voters
I know out in North Dakota, Senator Kevin Cramer said farm country serious trouble for Trump.
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Cramer → know → Trump
Listen, I've had the opportunity to be in the district and talk to the rural voters.
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I → listen → voters
Right, we have a lot of farmers in our communities, and what the farmers are excited about and actually applaud the president for is actually standing up to Canada and try and level the playing field with the tariffs.
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are → have → tariffs
Since the 1990s, Canada has had a 250% tariff on our farmers for things like milk and cream and poultry.
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Canada → have → milk
He's trying to level that playing field.
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He → try → field
Number two, the president for our farmers also is- is enacted 20 new trade deals.
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president → is- → deals
The last time we had a trade deal was under Barack Obama, and we had three.
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we → have → three
And the third thing that our farmers are really applaud the Republicans and President Trump for is actually the death tax.
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farmers → applaud → Republicans
We want to keep more of those family farms in the family, so we want to make sure that they can pass that generational wealth onto the next generation.
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they → want → generation
We are going to take a quick break.
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You're freezing up a bit.
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You → freeze → ?
I'm hoping we fix that during this break.
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we → hop → break
Stay with us if you could.
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you → stay → us
We continue our conversation now with Michigan Congresswoman Lisa McClain.
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We → continue → McClain
Congresswoman, you were talking about how Michigan was navigating some of the Trump tariffs.
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Michigan → talk → tariffs
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation said those tariffs cost your state $23 billion since January of 2025.
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tariffs → say → 2025
It's going to hit this aluminum, dairy, steel, appliances.
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It → go → appliances
How much is this going to hurt?
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this → go → ?
Yeah, listen, I shop at the same grocery stores as everybody else does, but what the president's trying to do is actually level the playing field because what we're not happy with is we want a trading partner with Canada, and right now they're not being a great trading partner.
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they → listen → Canada
And I'll give you a great example, is we have trading- a tariff, for example, country of origin tariffs, for example, on China.
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we → give → China
What our trading partner Canada is doing is say, hey, China, put your goods through Canada.
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doing → do → Canada
…and 35 more, not listed.
