CBS Face the Nation to feature NASA chief, former CDC doctor

CBS News will bring NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry to Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on Sunday, pairing two of the federal government’s most closely watched science posts with a broader political roundtable. The episode will also feature NCAA President Charlie Baker and a joint interview with Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez, turning the hour into a compact reading of the week’s agenda in Washington.

The program will air on CBS News at 10:30 a.m. ET and stream at 12:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and CBSNews.com. That schedule puts the broadcast in front of a national audience as the administration, Congress and major institutions continue to wrestle with questions that reach far beyond any single agency.

Isaacman brings a newly elevated NASA profile to the table. He is the 15th Administrator of NASA, and the Senate confirmed him on Dec. 17, 2025, by a 67-30 vote. NASA’s biography says Isaacman is an entrepreneur and pilot who commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight aboard Dragon, and that he has been leading the agency in 2026. His appearance will likely draw attention to how NASA is being steered under a leader with both commercial and flight credentials, at a moment when space policy remains tied to federal spending, exploration goals and the private sector’s growing role.

Houry’s booking keeps the focus on the turbulence inside the nation’s public health bureaucracy. She resigned from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2025 after the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, amid concerns about scientific independence. In Senate testimony in September 2025, Houry said she resigned because “Secretary Kennedy’s actions repeatedly censored CDC science” and politicized agency processes. CDC leadership pages now list Jay Bhattacharya as performing the delegable duties of CDC director, underscoring how much turnover has continued around the agency’s top jobs.

Baker’s presence adds another policy lane, with the former Massachusetts governor now leading the NCAA as college sports faces pressure over money, athlete rights and governance. The joint interview with Espaillat and Gimenez brings in a separate partisan dynamic, with lawmakers from New York and Florida sharing the same segment as the program widens from federal agencies to the political disputes shaping the House.