The following is the transcript of the interview with Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on April 19, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We're joined now by Eric Holder, who served as Attorney General under former President Obama. Good to have you here. 

FMR. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: Good to be here. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you've been working on redistricting. You're chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Voters out in Virginia are set to make this decision about redrawing districts in a way that would advantage Democrats. As I understand it, it's not just you. It's former President Obama, it's the Governor of Virginia, all pushing for this, saying that this gerrymandering will restore fairness. But how is drawing a map along partisan lines- How is that not just stacking the deck? How is that about fairness?

HOLDER: We have to look at this in its totality. This is really a national fight. It's not a fight only about Virginia. And when the President told Governor Abbott in Texas, I needed five additional seats in the House of Representatives, there had to be a response to that. And the governor in California decided, all right, we'll put- we'll ask the people of California, do you want to respond to what has happened in Texas? We're asking the people of Virginia, do you want to respond to what's happened, not only in Texas, but in Missouri as well, and in North Carolina as well. And what we're trying to do is come up with a system whereby the people actually decide what's the composition of the House of Representatives so that it can be an effective check on this president. So, what Virginia is doing, what California did is only in response to that which Republicans started in Texas. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: But in Virginia, there already was a bipartisan commission that was set up to do these things. I mean, that sounds fair, bipartisan commission. So, by holding this referendum and changing the map, I know you said that this is just a temporary measure. How do you guarantee that this is temporary and that this doesn't keep happening?

HOLDER: Well, the measure itself says that it is- it is time limited. It is only for this cycle, an additional cycle, and after the census--

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, that could be changed again. 

HOLDER: No, well, no, that's nothing that we would be pushing. We need to deal with the crisis that we have right now, come up with a way in which we deal with that crisis, and then get back to the redistricting commissions in California and in Virginia. And one thing I think it's really important to understand is that the people have the ability to make this decision in Virginia, as they did in California, as opposed to--

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because they have a referendum--

HOLDER: --as opposed to it being imposed upon them in Texas and in Missouri and in North Carolina, which proved to be wildly unpopular, but Republican politicians ignored the will of the people in those states and put in place these mechanisms.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But if we put this another way, I mean, look at all the headwinds the president's party is facing right now. We've been talking about the war and the energy costs that go along with it. Historically, the president's party doesn't usually do well in the midterm races. So why do Democrats need to do this? I mean, it sounds like it's acknowledging that the Democratic Party can't win on its own, that it has to go through these measures.

HOLDER: The Democrats can certainly win if it's a fair fight. And the question I have--

MARGARET BRENNAN: --It wasn't going to be a fair fight in Virginia?

HOLDER: No, it wasn't going to be a fair fight nationally, if you try to steal seats in Texas, in North Carolina and in Missouri. And so the question I have for people who are critical of that which we're doing, is, what were we supposed to do? Nothing? just allow them to try to stack the deck, to try to steal seats, and all we're trying to do is meet them and try to make the system as fair as it possibly can be. And that's all that this is about, and it's temporary, and it is also something that the citizens have the ability to say yes or no to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I don't have to explain to you the negative parts of gerrymandering, because you have talked about it for years and years. I mean, we looked back at some of your quotes. You said it puts in place governments that don't reflect the policy desires of the American people. In 2019 you said it leads to gridlock. It leads to lack of compromise because it caters to the extremes of the party. You said, I don't stand for gerrymandering for Democrats. So practically speaking, aren't you endorsing all these things now? I mean, how does the situation get better? How do people lead to compromise now? 

HOLDER: Well, we have to deal with this crisis that is in front of us and that the Republicans put before the nation. Once we get past this crisis, we can get back to that which I've been fighting for since 2017 which is fairness. But we have to, if we want to get to that fairness fight, we have to save our democracy now. And I'm not being hyperbolic or alarmist, if we don't respond to that which they are trying to do, we could lose our democracy and not have the ability to get back to that fairness fight.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The Supreme Court upheld the actions in Texas.

HOLDER: Right. The Supreme Court upheld the actions in Texas, as well as in California. Supreme Court--

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you still think it's illegal, basically--

HOLDER: I think it's inappropriate, and hopefully the next time we have a new Democratic president and control both the House and the Senate, I hope we'll pass federal legislation that will ban partisan gerrymandering just outright and get away- just do away with this altogether.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So even if this is a short-term measure, there are some specifically in the state of Virginia, who have concerns about what- what happens near term? There was an op-ed written by Philip Thompson. I'm not sure if you saw it. He's the Executive Director of the National Black Nonpartisan Redistricting Organization, and he said that, specific to Virginia, the redrawn map fails to consolidate black political influence despite the fact that black voters form a critical component of the Democratic leadership and voting bloc in Virginia. And he raises this question, what's in this for us? If you need to get people out there excited and voting, how do you respond to something like that?

HOLDER: That's simply untrue. That is simply untrue. And what I would ask, whoever that gentleman is, do you think that another two years of unchecked Trump power is in the best interest of African Americans in this nation? No. The answer to that is clearly, clearly no. And so, we have to look at this, not again, only on a Virginia scale, but what is going on nationally, and the impact of having a positive vote in Virginia will be to put in place- help put in place a check on that which the Trump administration has been doing. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Holder, thank you so much for your time. 

HOLDER: Thanks for having me. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be back in a moment.