welcome back to "face the nation." republicans have full control of congress, although their majority is small in both chambers. we sat down friday with the new senate leader, john thune, and asked if those narrow margins would hamstring the party when it came to making major policy changes. >> it's always challenging, and

especially in this current political environment. we don't always agree on republicans within the family. >> particularly among republicans. >> but i think when it comes to the big issues, securing the border, rebuilding the military, strengthening the economy, you know, generating energy dominance for this country, those are all things on which we agree. with respect to even narrow margins, i think we're going to have a hopefully a very unified effort when it comes to those core issues. we'll increase on the margins and the process and all of that sort of thing, but when it comes to the things we need to get done, those are all things i think we agree on. >> you've had disagreements with donald trump in the past. as part of this advise and consent role, the role of the senate, what do you tell him when you think he's wrong? >> i will. and i think my job is to do everything i can to help him achieve success, be a successful president, which in my view means that we'll be a successful country. we have the same set of objectives, we want to get to the same destination. but i think at times, there'll be differences in how we get there. and understanding the unique aspects of how the senate

operates is something i'll have to be able to share and convey to the president, and help him understand, i think, what the -- you know, what the contours are, what we can accomplish here in the senate and what's realistic. >> off 53-seat majority over here, which means you can only lose three votes. if democrats remain unified in their opposition to some of mr. trump's picks, for his cabinet, do you expect them all to make it through? >> what i promised is a fair process for all of them. when it comes to his picks, and i would say this of any president, they deserve a lot of latitude. his picks will come through a process where if they get reported out of the committee, come across the floor of the senate, we'll make sure they get the vote. and i think that -- i suspect a lot of them will get through. and we'll see about all of them remains to be seen. but i think that's why we have the process and adhere to that process, and give all of these nominees an opportunity to make their cay. >> you've said that you have to see if democrats play ball or not. but you don't need democrats to get these through.

so, does that mean you already know, some of your republican senators won't vote to confirm kash patel at the fbi or pete hegseth at the pentagon? >> we don't have, at this point, i don't think, clarity on that. i think these are nominees who are new enough, they've been going around and conducting their meetings, which i think, frankly, have gone very well. but they still have to make their case in front of the committee. and we don't know all the information about some of these nominees. i think we know a lot about them. but they deserve a fair process. we have a three-vote margin in the senate, as you point out, but i do think that in most cass, at least, most of our republican senators are inclined to give the president the people that he wants in these positions, given the process that they go through the and whether or not they can manage the committee process and ensure they get floort for a vote. >> does that include fbi background checks? often the ranking members get them on armed services, for example, but some of your colleagues want to see pete

hegseth's fbi background check before they vote. >> and i think that's going to be determined largely by the committee chairs. i think there'll be -- >> would you encourage that? >> sure. i think that you want to have as much background as possible and and that is available to the committees as they make their decisions. i have a high level of confidence in our chairs that they will ensure that as members of the senate have an opportunity to consider these nominees, that they have all of the information available to them that they should have. >> i want to ask you what you need to get done policy wise, as well, in terms of providing the president with the funding to execute on some of his big goals. you have said you're going to go out of the gate with a generational investment in border security and immigration enforcement. you're going to pass it on 51 party line votes. if you want to govern through regular order, why duothrough this in a party line direction? >> well, it's one of those issues that has become incredibly divisive for the country. and there aren't many people

left in the middle. reconciliation enables us, it doesn't come along very often, where you have unified control of the government. and in a lot of cases, it doesn't last very long. it's a couple of years. the democrats provided a template in the last couple of years, for how to expand the scope of what's available to get done through the reconciliation process. it's the only process in the senate that enables you to enact legislation with a 51-vote threshold as opposed to 60. and so, immigration -- >> but it's out of the gate saying, we're not going to work with democrats. >> well, i'm not saying, they came out of the gate and had their first reconciliation bill coming out in four weeks. >> $2 trillion. with the covid bill. and you didn't like it. you faulted them for using reconciliation. >> -- with the i.r.a.. >> exactly. >> it would be ideal if we could figure out a way to do things at the 60-vote threshold and there are a number of things that we will. we think a generational investment in the border is necessary given where we are after the last four years of

what i think is a very failed biden/harris border policy. >> there are 1.4 million people here with orders of removal against them. i have seen numbers that put the cost of expelling them between $80 to $100 billion annually. you get that kind of money in the first hundred days? >> what we're trying to do is get an assessment from the people who are going to be in place. they're going to be implementing oo of the president's policies when it comes to the border to determine what that resource allocation will be. >> i think what we do know, we need physical barriers, technological barriers, we need more i.c.e. agents, more border patrol agents. and yes, we'll need ways of deporting people who are on that list that you mentioned. and so it's going to take some resources to do that. which is why i would argue that when the president takes office, and he'll do a lot of things on the border, by executive order, by executive action, that we'll need to be able to provide the resources in order for him to do that. and that's why i've suggested

that we take that border issue on right away and enable him to do the things that he needs to do. >> is it true you'll put some defense spending in that as well? >> one of the things we always argue about around here, is the amount of money we need to spend on defense. if you look at every biden administration budget, there wasn't a single one of them when it came to military spending that kept up even with initiati inflation. we have the defense commission strategy group that comes out with a report all the times and tells us that we are dramatically underfunded relative to countries like china. >> those should be bipartisan issues, right? >> and we don't have the capacity and capability to do what needs to be done to protect the country. there's a big difference in delta in the two parties, in how they approach the issue of defense and military readiness. and i think we are dramatically underfunding the military today and i think the president believes that, president trump, and i think a lot of our republican colleagues in the house and senate share that view. >> so can we do this through reconciliation? we're obviously looking at our options. >> i want to make sure i ask you

about the other big promise you made in terms of delivering on tax reform and reconciliation. the estimates are that it could add $4 trillion over the next decade. is that really thing that you think will pass on a party-line vote? and without any revenue or spending cuts? you can't be comfortable. >> these are tax laws that will expire at the end of this year if congress doesn't take action to extend them. and it would represent a $4 trillion tax increase on the american people. if we don't extend that policy. we're going to have a very robust conversation about tax reform. there's a lot riding on it economically. i think regulatory policy, tax policy, energy policy are really essential to the strength of our economy, how fast we can grow and expand and creator be better-paying jobs in this country. i believe you get a lot of that back through growth, in additional revenue. >> not tariffs? as mr. trump has promised? >> well, that's a different subject. but i would say every 1%

increase in gdp, in economic growth, we're told, generates about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue. so you're going to get some back in terms of growth dividend. and there will be spending cuts. there's no question about it. >> but going out of the gate with two big issues on party-line votes, aren't you concerned that will blow up your chances at working with democrats, on some of those bigger immigration issues, or bigger policies? >> we need to continue to work on those big policy issues. but i also think that we have some immediate concerns, matters that need to be addressed. one which is national security, given the increasingly dangerous world in which wily. and of course, i would argue, that starts with the border. border, national security, energy policy, energy dominance is a huge objective and goal. and i would hope that a reconciliation bill could also address that issue. if we do something on taxes, that traditionally has been in the past, the democrats did it twice while they had the majority in the last session of the congress. >> trump did that in 2017, too, with taxes.

>> and both sides have done it. and that's the unique aspect of having unified control of the government. but i think those are all important and they are things that, as a country. if we don't get right, i fear what the results of the outcome will be. and yes, with it would be ideal if he could do it bipartisan. i would hope that there are some democrats that would vote for some of the tax policies that we have, but i'm not expecting that at the moment. >> you can see the full interview on our website and youtube channel. we'll be right back.

president-elect trump has promised to seal the southern border, where illegal crossings are now at a four-year low. cbs news immigration's and politics reporter camilla galvez has more from both sides of the u.s./mexico border. >> this has been a proven deterrent. >> reporter: along the u.s./mexico border, our drone captured a group of migrants, including young children, trying

to enter the country illegally. but they were unable to get past a razor wire set up by the state of texas. >> some people may look at this and say, this looks like a war zone. >> the tactic behind all of this optic is going what it just did right now. it prevents them from coming over illegally. >> texas credits its aggressive efforts for the current four-year low in illegal border crossings. the biden administration attributes that drop to asylum restrictions, mexico's efforts to stop migrants, and aph phone app that allows up to 1,500 people per day to schedule legal crossings. but on the mexican side of the border, we found a bottleneck of people desperate to enter the u.s. awaiting the appointments under the app. president-elect trump has vowed to shut down the app, expand border restrictions, and conduct mass deportations. hell in this food pantry in tijuana, mexico, migrants from

across latin america can get food, water, basic necessities, and services. but now the concern is that the upcoming trump administration could derail their plans to make it into the u.s. food director worries that trump's plan to shut down the app could backfire, prompting more migrants to cross into the u.s. illegally. >> there's a lot of uncertainty? anxiety, too. >> haitian migrant migueli nelson use cpb-1 every morning, hoping to get her daughter a golden ticket into the u.s. >> everything you're doing now is for your daughter to have a better future. yes. that's all you want. whether that future will be in the u.s. is still to be determined. >> that's our camilla montoya galvez reporting. we go now to tom homan. he will serve as mr. trump's border czar and joins us this morning from naples, florida. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> deportations are now at a

decade high, they were at the end of 2024. nearly 300,000 people deported by the biden administration. the incoming administration has promised the largest deportation operation in history. what's the number? what's the measure of success? >> well, let's talk about this administration, what they claim is a huge deportation number this year. actually, if you drill into the numbers, about 80% of those numbers are actually border patrol arrests that enforcement that i.c.e. process and move back across the border. if you look at the historic number of illegal entries the last four years, i.c.e., immigrations and customs enforcement, has the lowest number of deportations in the history of the agency. so they're playing a numbers game, just like they played a numbers game with the number of people coming across to border. even though they claim they have the highest number of deportations, look at those

depor deportations, who actually removed those people, it's not i.c.e.. >> it's still a higher number than the trump administration. but for the income trump administration, what's the measure? it's not deportations at the border. you say you are going to measure by success by people who are already internal in the country, to deport. that's how you're going to measure it. and what's that figure? >> well, again, let's get the numbers straight. you said they were higher than the trump administration. this is about how many got dp deported. trump had illegal border crossings at a 45-year, of course the number will be lower. under the biden administration, we have millions of people released in the united states, who have lost, and millions of people that are released in the united states, despite a statute saying you cannot be released in the united states without proper documentation and you shall be contained. you can compare the numbers of deportation to trump versus biden, but when you consider a 45-year low in crossings, of

course the number of dpr deportations will be lower, because we don't have that number to process and deport. >> i'm just right to measure success going forward. for day one, can you help us understand what the plan is? a number of industries in this country hire undocumented workers, because they are cheap labor. on day one, are you going to re-start raids on work sites, on construction sites? >> president trump has been clear, as i've been clear from day one, that the president will concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. and as you've heard from your previous segments, we have a huge centnational security issu this country. the southwest border has become the biggest national security vulnerability we've seen in this nation. fbi director wray agrees with me. we know people in this country pose a national security threat. they've arrested a record number of people on the terrorist watch list. a 3,500% increase in people on the terrorist watch list being arrested a to the border.

we got over 2 million known got-aways. we know 2 million people crossed the border, weren't airrested, weren't vetted, weren't fingerprints. why did 2 million people pay more, they get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get three meals a day and free medical care. >> i'm not disputing it's a hemisphere-wide crisis. we're talking about how you're going to deal with it. that's why i'm asking you, when you say "criminals," does that mean you are going to go into already-existing prisons, at local level, and deport people who are in those prisons? are you going to go to workforces? i mean, how do you know where the criminals are, i guess is the question? and if they're working at a work site, are you going to show up to surprise them? >> well, look, we know where a lot of the criminals are. i.c.e. does their greatest work. we know where some are, but they simply haven't able to go and arrest them because of secretary mayorkas' priorities, it

handcuffed i.c.e. we know where a lot of criminals are. we're going to arrest starting day one. as far as being in jails and prisons, we would love to work in local jails. but sanctuary cities won't allow us into those jails. it's much easier for a public safety threat, the public safety and security of public jail than out on the street. the alien's safer that way. the community is safer that way. the sanctuary cities that safety threats back into the community to the immigrant community, that puts that community at greater risk and crime. and here's what's going to happen. when you go to the community and mind that person, he's probably going to be with others, others we'll have to arrest. it's not safe for the community, not safe for the officers, not safe for anybody. let us arrest the bad guy in the jail cell where you chose to arrest somebody and put him in a jail cell because obviously he's a public safety threat. >> when you just said in there, it sounds like you were talking about collateral arrests. you're going to target people who you know are criminals, but if they happen to be living in a

house where there are other undocumented people, you will sweep them up, too. that's what i think you were just saying there. i wonder how you're going to parse out some of those collateral arrests. for example, will dreamers be protected? donald trump has said he wants to work with democrats to protect them and give them status. that takes a long time in congress. what do you in the meantime? how do you make sure they're not caught up in drag net? >> look, every person i.c.e. arrests, they do what they call an fugitive operation spreadsheet. they know exactly who they're going to arrest, exactly where they're probably likely to find them and a lot of information on that arrest. other people that may be there that may be illegal, they'll handle on a case-by-case basis. the concentration is on public safety threats. more agents in the jails means less agents in the neighborhood. that's why i'm leading with sanctuary cities, let us into the jail to arrest the bad guy. that's why you're not forced into the community. if you go to an immigrant

community and ask them, would you rather have i.c.e. operating in your local jails or in your community? what do you think they're going to say. they don't want bad criminal aliens in their neighborhoods, either. let us work with the jails, with law enforcement. sanctuary cities are not safe for the immigrant communities and not safe for our officers. >> that's like secure communities act, kind of action. but where do you send people? some of these countries like venezuela don't accept deportations right now. mexico's president indicated that her country might be willing to receive non-mexican migrants who are dpoeported. how does that work? does the u.s. pay mexico to ship those people off somewhere else? >> well, first of all, we've got president trump coming into the oval office, and he's proven during his first administration his leadership on illegal immigration was a game changer. el salvador wouldn't take back ms-13 members. it took president trump 48 hours to el salvador to take back

their illegal aliens. mexico, president trump was able to get remain in mexico established in mexico and mexico to put military on their northern and southern border. president trump is a strong president. this administration has not forced these countries to take them back. and we already have countries talking about taking back people from other countries. for instance, venezuela don't want to take their people back, there's others ways we can do it. there are other countries that will be willing to accept them. we're hoping that president trump will work with venezuela, lie he did with mexico and el salvador and get these countries taken back. if they don't, they'll still with deported, just dpoeported a different country. we've got to put the safety of the american people first. we've got too many young women murdered and raped and burn aid live by members of venezuelan gangs. they need to be a priority under this administration, they will be a priority starting day one and they will be deported. >> we will stay tuned for the details, border czar, tom homan, thank you for your time. we'll be back in a moment.

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yesterday marked the beginning of a series of public remembrances for former president jimmy carter, who died last sunday at the age of 100.

mark strassman reports. >> reporter: a moment long in the making for those who served for so long. jimmy carter's secret service detail present and past, escorting his casket to the presidential hearse. >> plains is a tourist town, and president carter is our favorite son. he has molded this town. >> this is the end of an era here in plains. jimmy carter was their friend, their neighbor, this small community's identity. >> he was everything that america should have been. and he really meant a lot to the people around here. >> outside his boyhood farm, a bell tolled 39 times, saluting america's 39th president. at the carter presidential center in atlanta, marines carried in the casket. jimmy carter will lie in repose through tuesday morning. five more days of remembrances will honor a former president and globe-trotting humanitarian.

>> he was he would up and propped up and soothed by an amazing woman. and the two of them together changed the world. >> starting tuesday morning, america's final salute will shift to washington, d.c. for two days of remembrance. >> that was our mark strassman reporting. be sure to tune into cbs news for our coverage of america's farewell to jimmy carter. on tuesday, the former president will lie in state at the u.s. capitol and on thursday, the state funeral at the national cathedral. we'll brynn >> university of maryland global campus isn't just an innovative state school, it's a school for real life, one that values the successes you've already achieved. that's why at umgc, you can earn

up to 90 credits toward a bachelor's for prior learning and life and job experience, why we offer scholarships and affordable tuition, and why we have online classes and the support you need from your first day to graduation day and beyond. no application fee if you apply by february 12th at umgc.edu.

. that's it for us today. thank you all for watching. until next week. more "face the nation," i'm margaret brennan.

>> it's monday, january 6th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings." monster storm. tens of millions of americans under winter weather alerts as snow, ice, whipping winds, and arctic temperatures march across the country. four years later. security stepped up on capitol hill as lawmakers are set to gather today to certify donald