Democratic U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen is back in New Hampshire during the Senate’s summer recess.
She spoke with NHPR’s Julia Barnett about the war in Iran, tariffs and other issues affecting Granite Staters.
Listen to the full conversation above. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
Let's start with the war in Iran. After concerning reports of poor conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln emerged, another ship [has now] relieved it. But as the war in Iran continues with no end in sight, what steps should Congress be taking to protect American troops?
Well, it's very troubling to hear what's happened on the Lincoln. That's the longest deployment in Navy history, of the Lincoln. What we heard from family members — I didn't hear from anyone from New Hampshire who was on board — but we have heard from other family members of people who were on board about the conditions with access to toiletries, to hot water, to basic necessities, food. There were real concerns about the food; the quantity of food and the quality of food that men and women who were serving were getting.
And that's just totally unacceptable. And it speaks to the lack of planning and strategy before the president got us into this war in Iran, which has accomplished none of the goals that he set out to do. So we have a more hard-line regime in place in Iran now than at the start of the war. They continue to fund proxies, including the Houthis, who are now talking about shutting down the Red sea. They have not addressed the enhanced and enriched uranium that Iran has. There's no plan for reducing its nuclear program or ending it. And now Iran has taken control of the Strait of Hormuz in ways that were not ever envisioned in the past.
Are there any specific steps, though, that Congress can take to help ensure the safety of troops as they are over there right now?
Well, Congress is speaking up and has raised concerns with Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and the Department [of Defense] about the conditions that people are facing. And we must continue to speak up even louder.
It speaks to the incompetence of the administration and to Secretary Hegseth that we would be engaged in a war that had no strategy and no understanding of how long it was going to last, or what it would mean for the deployment of our men and women who are serving. They have worked hard and continue to work hard to complete the mission that has been laid out for them. And the least we can do is to ensure that they have the basic necessities to operate.
And one more on Iran, briefly. Legislative efforts in the Republican-led Congress to end the war in Iran have not succeeded. For you and other lawmakers who want to end this war, or at least play a role in shaping it, what levers do you realistically have right now?
Well, we have voted on numerous war powers resolutions. War powers resolutions have passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the administration is not paying any attention to those resolutions that have passed.
We are trying to hold the administration accountable for funding. There have been a number of hearings on the request for a supplemental appropriation to fund the war, and we have not gotten the information and the data sharing that we really need in order to determine what money has been spent, what it's been used for, and how much this war has really cost. And we need to see that.
And Senator, a little closer to home here: President Trump has temporarily paused the rollout of his 50% tariffs on Canadian imports. Canada is one of New Hampshire's top trading partners. You've been critical of Trump's tariff policies. Whether this recent threat is a negotiation tactic or actual economic policy, are you looking at any legislative responses that could help mitigate the impacts — political or economic — of a tariff threat?
Well, we've looked at a number of options. In fact, we were one of the Senate offices that identified the IEEPA [International Emergency Economic Powers Act] tariffs and the president's inappropriate use of those tariffs, which the Supreme Court has struck down.
But what President Trump has done with tariffs, with attacking our allies and partners, is not in America's interest. And these tariffs are having a huge impact, not just the Canadian tariffs, but across the board on the cost of living that people are paying in New Hampshire and across the country. They're increasing prices on groceries and almost anything that people buy. And for us here in New Hampshire, where Canada is such an important trading partner, where we have people who work on both sides of the border and depend on those Canadian companies, where we depend on so many Canadian tourists for our tourism industry, and we're seeing that that's down dramatically, it is having a huge impact and Congress needs to do everything possible to try and prevent additional tariff tariffs from being invoked.
Food insecurity is on the rise in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, starting in October, the federal government is shifting more of the cost of food programs like SNAP onto states. Earlier this week, you said you would advocate to postpone this change for two years. How realistic do you think that is?
Well, right now, this is the issue that's holding up passage of the Farm Bill. We haven't passed a Farm Bill in DC since 2018. There has been a lot of bipartisan agreement on a farm bill and the need to pass it . . . but what is holding this up is a determination for how much share of the food assistance program, the SNAP program, states have to pay.
What I believe we need to do is to delay the change on how much states pay for two years so we can accurately assess what the situation is across the country, what that means for states, and how to allow states to reduce the error rates in terms of what they're providing for food assistance. So they're doing it more efficiently and then make the change at the end of that two years. If we only wait a year, which is what's being proposed now and the holdup on the Farm Bill, then we don't have that accurate information, that data that we need in order to ensure that states like New Hampshire are not going to be very hard hit. And what we know is when we start increasing the amount of money that states have to pay, many states will reduce their share. And that means more people are going to go hungry.
And do you think this is realistic getting through this postponement for two years?
It is if we can get agreement on it. And it makes more sense to wait and have the data and do it accurately, in a way that's going to relieve the stress and the cost to states and keep millions of people really from getting thrown off food assistance.
And one more local issue. The recent allegations of abuse at the state-run youth detention center . . . similar allegations go back decades. Your colleague, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, recently called for a federal investigation into the center. Do you think this merits federal intervention, or do you think the state can adequately investigate itself?
Well, several years ago, we also raised that concern with the Department of Justice. And I think if we can't…I think it's appropriate for the Department of Justice to take a look at what's gone on here and to see if the state is acting appropriately.
