WASHINGTON – The fury radiating off of Congressional Democrats is palpable.
Hours after Alex Padilla, the senior U.S. senator in California, was forcibly removed from a press briefing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, House Democrats roamed the Capitol seeking an audience with GOP leadership. Meanwhile, their Senate counterparts gave floor speech after floor speech, condemning the action as an "abuse of power" and "assault."
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.
