Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to resign Thursday after fellow California Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference.
“Kristi Noem should never have been appointed to that office,” Schiff told reporters back on Capitol Hill. “She should resign from that office. There ought to be an investigation of the conduct of those officers.”
Schiff, whom President Donald Trump nicknamed “Shifty Schiff” on the 2024 campaign trail, and Padilla have been vocal opponents of Trump’s second-term agenda. Such has been the case amid California’s latest controversy, as both Golden State senators joined Democrats in accusing Trump of escalating tensions amid protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin quickly fired back at Schiff’s call for Noem’s resignation, telling Fox News Digital, “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theater and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem.”
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“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. U.S. Secret Service thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately,” McLaughlin added. “Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15-minute meeting.”
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The Trump administration ordered National Guardsmen and Marines to Los Angeles following days of anti-ICE protests and riots. The last time a sitting U.S. president used his federal authority to deploy the National Guard without the governor’s request was during the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.
Padilla interrupted Noem on Thursday as she provided an update to reporters about the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Fox News reporters at the scene said Padilla appeared to be temporarily detained by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel after allegedly “lunging” at her during the press conference addressing the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots. Noem said she later met with him in a private room.
After loudly speaking over Noem, Padilla was pushed out of the room by authorities as they ordered him to put his hands up.
Schiff told reporters he was “disgusted” by the video from the scene.
“The actions of the administration have been disgraceful, both in how they have conducted their indiscriminate raids and how they’ve separated families, but also by abusing the military in the way they have by calling out the National Guard over the objections of the governor of California, mobilizing the Marines when it was utterly unnecessary and in violation of the law,” Schiff said.
He added that Padilla had “every right to go into that room and demand answers. That is what a senator does, and for him to get that kind of abusive treatment, every senator who works in this Capitol should be offended by this and outraged by this.”
A fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock didn’t go as far as Schiff in calling for Noem’s resignation, but told reporters “a lot of questions need to be answered.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) joined Democrats in condemning the Trump administration’s actions Thursday.
“This assault on U.S. Senator Alex Padilla has sent a violent message to all of America: If you dissent against Donald Trump and openly disagree with the government, then you are not safe in our country,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement and added, “This horrifying escalation of violence is straight out of an authoritarian playbook.”
But the White House fired back in a statement to Fox News, shifting criticism to Padilla for disrupting the press conference.
“Padilla stormed a press conference, without wearing his Senate pin or previously identifying himself to security, yelled, and lunged toward Secretary Noem,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said. “Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention. Padilla embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt – but 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.”
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Patrick Ward and Krista Garvin contributed to this report.
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