Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and a host of Democratic senators have called for an independent investigation and the resignation of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem following the incident in which Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference in Los Angeles. The event, which took place on Thursday, saw Padilla enter the high-security facility without proper security credentials and attempt to interrupt Noem’s remarks. Secret Service agents, acting under orders to prevent the disruption of the press conference, handcuffed Padilla and removed him from the room.
Warren, a prominent liberal voice in the Democratic Party, criticized the situation on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” calling for both an investigation and Noem’s resignation. “It’s time for Republican Senators to speak up. We need an independent investigation of this,” she stated. “It is also time for Kristi Noem to resign. She needs to resign,” she added.
In response, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the actions of the Secret Service, stating that everything was recorded and that Warren was attempting to rewrite history. “Everything is on camera—Warren is trying to revise history on Senator Padilla’s embarrassing conduct, but Americans can see with their own eyes,” she said. McLaughlin emphasized that Padilla had entered a restricted area under false pretenses, thereby crashing an invite-only press conference. She also noted that had Padilla formally requested a meeting, Noem would have been happy to accommodate him for 15 minutes after the press conference.
Padilla and Noem eventually met in a brief, cordial exchange, though Fox News reported that Noem described the meeting as “cordial and beneficial,” while Padilla’s office called it “civil.” Padilla’s office stated that the senator raised concerns about the deployment of military forces and the escalation of unrest in Los Angeles. However, the senator’s office reported that Noem did not provide any meaningful answers to these concerns.
Other Democrats, including California Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, have also called for Noem to step down. While some Republican senators, like Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, have criticized the handling of the incident, others, such as sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, have publicly criticized Padilla on his show, asking, “You couldn’t wait?” This incident has sparked a broader debate on the balance between free speech and national security in the context of high-profile political events.