'Unhinged': Democrats furious Padilla hauled out of Noem briefing
House Speaker Mike Johnson called Padilla's actions "wildly inappropriate" and alleged he rushed at the secretary. House Democrats shouted over him, saying "that's a lie!"
Padilla interrupted a press briefing Noem held in Los Angeles on June 12, amid days of protests against President Donald Trump's immigration raids in the city. Some of those protests have turned violent, with demonstrators burning cars and hurling objects at law enforcement. Trump sent in National Guard troops without Gov. Gavin Newsom's consent, spurring additional outrage from Democrats.
"We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and mayor have placed on this country," Noem said as Padilla started asking: "Madam Secretary I want to know why you insist on -" before he was grabbed and hauled out of the room by security guards.
Padilla was pushed to the ground and handcuffed outside the room.
"Anybody that looks at that video will understand that this amounts to an assault, a felony," said Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "The White House is unhinged and out of control."
Espaillat and more than a dozen other Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter Thune's office, who was meeting with the White House, and were turned away from Johnson's office.
"They said he was busy, that he couldn't come out to meet with dozens of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, hiding behind the doors there," said Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-California. "It's a disgrace."
On the other side of the Capitol, a string of Democratic senators delivered floor speeches hammering the indignity of the episode.
"I saw this happen to my colleague, and I am shocked by how far we have descended in the first 140 days of this administration . . . What is the becoming of our democracy? Are there no limits to what this administration will do?" said New Jersey Democrat Sen. Andy Kim on the Senate floor.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray said on the Senate floor she "cannot believe" lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are not calling the situation "outrageous."
Republicans largely defended the actions taken by federal law enforcement agents.
"What were they supposed to do? They have to restrain someone who is engaged in that kind of behavior . . . A sitting member of Congress should not act like that," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. "It is beneath a member of Congress. It is beneath a senator. They're supposed to lead by example, and that is not a good example."
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Padilla "embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt."
"It's telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA," she added.
Trump dispatched 4,000 members of the National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quell the protests.
Padilla said in a press conference after the incident that he wanted more information from Noem on the Trump administration's "increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions." Noem met with Padilla for 15 minutes afterward, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He added he was not arrested or detained. But, he said, "if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable."
Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on X that Padilla was "told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands."
Contributing: Joey Garrison and Deborah Berry, USA TODAY
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