WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle slammed the forcible removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) after he interrupted Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles on Friday. “It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level.
It’s not the America I know,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Thursday after a video of the confrontation went viral online. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called what happened to Padilla “sickening.” “What happened reeks of totalitarianism. This is not what democracies do,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
House Democrats were furious, with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) staging a press conference on the House steps to denounce the Trump administration, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus doing the same in front of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office. ADVERTISEMENT “Both the speaker and [Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)] should step up and preserve the institutions of Congress,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) told reporters.
Noem suggested the incident had been a mistake. “Nobody knew who he was when he came into the room creating a scene. He was removed from the room and yes, they started to put handcuffs on him when he finally identified himself and then that was stopped,” Noem said on Fox News, adding that she was happy to meet with Padilla.
In a written statement, Padilla said he’d been in the federal building in Los Angeles to meet with officials when he learned Noem was having a press conference down the hall. “After identifying myself and trying to ask a question, I was aggressively pushed out of the room, forced to the ground, and handcuffed,” Padilla said. “If that’s what they do to a United States senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up.” ADVERTISEMENT Many lawmakers didn’t hesitate to react to the short clip of federal agents manhandling Padilla.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) immediately called on Noem to resign. “You’re head of Homeland Security and you can’t take a question from a sitting U.S. Senator at a press conference?” she said in a post online.
“This level of abuse of power is shameful, outrageous, and is not doing anything to keep our homeland safe.” Republicans criticized Padilla for skipping votes in the Senate on Thursday. The senator was present for all other votes this week, though. “When we’re voting in the United States Senate, or an important legislation for the country, he’s not here, is that right?” asked Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
“Instead of disrupting a press conference, why not just wait, do your own press conference?” asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “The fact that he’s in California and not in D.C. while the Senate’s voting means he’s not as concerned about doing his job,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La. ), the No.
2 House Republican, told reporters.
