Several Democratic lawmakers marched to Senate Majority Leader John Thune‘s (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) offices after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was wrestled out of a homeland security press briefing and handcuffed Thursday.
Padilla’s detainment, which came after he attempted to ask questions at a press conference given by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, immediately lit a partisan fuse in Congress.
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“The brutal handcuffing of Senator Padilla is an affront to democracy. I’m joining House Democrats to march to Senator Thune’s office and to demand that he protect his Colleagues from this out-of-control authoritarian onslaught,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) posted on X.
The brutal handcuffing of Senator Padilla is an affront to democracy. I’m joining House Democrats to march to Senator Thune’s office and to demand that he protect his Colleagues from this out-of-control authoritarian onslaught. pic.twitter.com/G8zl8NvKJd
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) June 12, 2025
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) wrote, “We are marching to Senator Thune’s office. There must be accountability for the detainment of a Senator. This is not normal.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), speaking outside Johnson’s office, said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has “grave concerns when the speaker of the House refers to a sitting member of the U.S. Senate who simply tried to exercise his First Amendment rights as acting like a thug.”
Johnson called Padilla’s actions “highly inappropriate” and said the “behavior, at a minimum, rises to the level of a censure.”
“We have to turn the temperature down. We need to be on the side of the rule of law,” the speaker said.