Transcript: Usaa CEO Juan Andrade on “Watch the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nove. 2025

The following is the transcript of an interview with USAA CEO Juan Andrade toasted “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on November 2, 2025.

---

Margaret Brennan: Joining us now is Juan Andra, CEO of Financial Services Company USAA. Many of our nearly 14 million customers are military or veterans, and they are joining us in San Antonio. Sir, the Secretary of Deception said in this program last Sunday that on November 15, the troops and service members will not be paid. What level of anxiety do you see among your customers?

USAA President Juan Andrade: Margaret, thank you for taking me on your show. What we see today is uncertainty, anxiety and, for some, real difficulties, and that is not the end of a working society. It is also important to note that 30% of Federal employees are also veterans or military spouses. So this is more than an impact on the household budget. This can really undermine morale and concentration, and our mission is to provide assistance to people who live by paying the bills to pay and lose completely on the ground.

Margaret Brennan: Well, I saw that you give free interest to customers. Is it everyone, or the military in particular? And- and if they can’t qualify for a loan, what do they do?

Andrade: So we’re offering our federal discount program to all qualified USAA members. So like you said, right now it’s about 14 and a half million people, and right now, we’ve done pretty quickly and decisively. In the first 48 hours of closing, we funded 150 million in zero-debt loans. We are now up to 400 million so far. But that’s in addition to the payment extensions we’ve made on credit cards, loans, loans. We also stopped excess premiums and had flexible insurance arrangements across our property, casualty, life and health insurance businesses.

Margaret Brennan: Four hundred million in zero-to-zero loans. So people are already looking to try to find out how they will work to achieve it. We looked, and a quarter of all members of the military are food insecure, according to the Department of Agriculture, that was before this shutdown. That means they don’t have good food, or they can’t afford food. We have already seen hardships for many active military personnel. Can you give us a sense of what this means to a person now, looking at the calendar and knowing November 15th, no payment is coming?

Andrade: Yes, and- and I agree- and- and- and- and- and People are preparing for a certain period of uncertainty, and this is very important for them, especially if we consider how young you are registered and especially those who have families. Income in military sports is not a luxury, it is a necessity. So these are the people we are most concerned about, and we want to make sure they are stable at this point in time. Another part of this, and frankly, the reason for making these zero profit holes We want to make sure that they do not turn to payday loans or high credit cards at the same time.

Margaret Brennan: And the unemployment rate among military spouses is about five times the national average, in your case, that they need income. Many cannot do that, but the conmessional budget office that there will be economic costs, that the closure itself can lead to seven to 14 million in lost growth. What is the impact on communities like yours, where you lived, down in Texas, you know, in the places where there are foundations in this heaven where this country is?

Andrade: Sure, I think you see it in a couple of ways. I think one is definitely for consumer use. Currently, people prioritize basic needs, whether it is health or food at this point in time, so they reduce spending. I think that’s part of it. Another thing about it is that you will see a lot of people who are food security, and this is one of the reasons why we also support our local communities. All of our offices are located near major military installations, and we serve millions of well-placed military communities to provide food and other installation services, and we also serve local food banks in our communities.

Margaret Brennan: So how does this compare to the last shutdown that we had during the first Trump Administration?

Andrade: The- the last shutdown hasn’t happened in a long time. I think that was a big part of it. And we had confidence that the soldiers would be paid. Now, apparently, up until now, they’ve been getting paid. The question of uncertainty we are seeing from our members is what is happening in the next few weeks.

Margaret Brennan: Because you were already planning that the shutdown was not for a long time, do you think that the government did not get the money for a long time? How long can you keep doing this?

Andrade: We are already planning a second loan for members, so we have a number to take, certainly from the first loan offer. Now, they are taking us to the second loan offer, and we are ready to help. That’s our job, and take care of our members in the military community. So we will continue with this. And if we have to do more, we will do more.

Margaret Brennan: Right. Yes, we- we are considering your customers at this time, we will continue to follow what happens with that real world impact. Thank you, Mr. Andrade.

Andrade: Thank you, Margaret.