Who?
Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) — Ranking Member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)
LISTEN: Laslo & Himes
Ask a Pol asks:
Have you looked at any of these UFO files the Pentagon’s been dropping?
Key Himes:
“I think I’ve looked at what I understand to be almost all of the compartments that, you know, are relevant, but I’m not current on what the [Defense] Department has been doing lately,” Rep. Jim Himes — the top Democrat on HPSCI — exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics.
They’ve released four batches of recently declassified UFO videos and documentation that are new to the rest of us. But that hasn’t really gotten on your radar?”
“Not really,” Himes says. “I haven’t been tracking it, but I’ll take a look.”
Startup woes:
Every penny goes a long way!!!!
UAPDA — UAP Disclosure Act marches on (for now…)
Have you heard about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s UAP Disclosure Act getting included in the House-passed version of the NDAA?
“Yeah, no, I can’t remember,” Himes replies. “I’ll take your word for it.”
But the UAPDA didn’t come up in NDAA talks in HPSCI?
“Didn’t come up in Intelligence, no,” Himes says. “We were really focused on the IAA [Intelligence Authorization Act].”
Find us on Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, etc.
Or just buy the team a beer!
Caught our ear:
“Uh, oh,” Himes quips to Laslo. “I thought I was gonna get out of here without some question about UFOs or whatever, psilocybin.”
ICYMI — Find Ask a Pol on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram!
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Jim Himes (7-23-2026)
SCENE: Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo catches Rep. Jim Himes as he’s walking from the US Capitol to his office across the street.
Matt Laslo: “Mr. Himes.”
Jim Himes: “Uh, oh — I thought I was gonna get out of here without some question about UFOs or whatever, psilocybin.”
Laslo: “Watch out now, I’m going to put you on video.”
*GRRR — Laslo’s phone was out of storage the last day the House of Representatives was in session until September. We’re still not over it. First and last time that happens.
Laslo: “Have you looked at any of these files? The ‘UFO files’ that the Pentagon’s been dropping?”
Himes: “I think I’ve looked at what I understand to be almost all of the compartments that, you know, are relevant, but I’m, I’m not current on what the department has been doing lately.”
Laslo: “They’ve released like four batches of videos, some that are new — well, new to the rest of us, I guess, a lot of them are declassified, but that hasn’t really gotten on your radar?”
Himes: “Not really. I haven’t been tracking it, but I’ll take a look.”
Laslo: “Have you heard about the UAP Disclosure Act? I guess it got included in the NDAA here.”
Congressman Himes gets a message on his phone.
Himes: “Sorry.”
The Congressman answers a text from an aide before slipping his phone into his pocket.
Himes: “Yeah, no, I can’t, I can’t remember.”
Laslo: “Yeah? It wasn’t really debated.”
Himes: “I’ll take your word, I’ll take your word for it.”
Laslo: “But I guess — but it didn’t come up?”
Himes: “Didn’t come up in Intelligence, no. We were, we were really focused on the IAA.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Himes: “Which we’ll hopefully tag on to the NDAA.”
Laslo: “What’s that?”
Himes: “What’s that?”
Laslo: “What’s the IAA?”
Himes: “The Intelligence Authorization Act.”
Laslo: “Oh, that’s right. That’s right.”
Himes: “Yeah.”
Laslo: “The one I’m never allowed to hear about.”
Himes: “No, no, you can you can see. You can’t see the classified annex.”
They laugh.
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Himes: “Sorry about that.”
Laslo: “I can’t see the fun stuff!”
Himes: “But you can see most of it.”
Laslo: “Hey, have a good August.”
Himes: “Alright, take care — you too.”
Laslo passes some Capitol Police officers.
Laslo: “Have a good one, man.”
A Congresswoman waves to Laslo from the passenger seat of her aide’s car.
Laslo: “Have a good August.”
Laslo crosses the street back to the Capitol.
LAST WEEK before August recess — what should we be asking US Senators?
Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:
Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…
