House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing major backlash after demanding that Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) be censured—falsely claiming the senator “charged” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference. But video shows something very different: Padilla calmly trying to ask a question before being violently dragged out by federal agents.
The clash happened Thursday in Los Angeles, where Noem was speaking amid protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Padilla, a California Democrat, stood up and tried tried to ask her a question. What happened next stunned lawmakers across both parties: federal agents tackled Padilla, handcuffed him, and dragged him out.
“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla said as agents grabbed him. Moments later, he shouted, “Hands off!” as he was forced through the doors.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Padilla’s actions “at a minimum rise to the level of a censure.”
“You don’t charge a sitting Cabinet secretary,” Johnson told reporters. “That is not what we’re going to do… We got to do better.”
He added: “A sitting member of Congress should not act like that. It is beneath a member of Congress, it is beneath a U.S. senator.”
That claim has been torched as a blatant distortion. The video shows Padilla standing and speaking—nothing more.
“What I saw was agents asking him to quiet down… He refused to do so,” Johnson insisted, brushing off criticism. “They have to restrain someone who is engaging in that kind of behavior.”
But many lawmakers—especially Latino members of Congress—are furious, calling Johnson’s response dangerous and dishonest.
During Johnson’s press event at the Capitol, where he was trying to promote a Republican bill slashing $9.4 billion in federal spending, House Democrats hijacked the moment with outrage over what happened in L.A.
“Mike, that’s absurd,” shouted Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.).
“Why don’t you stand up for Congress?” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) added.
“That’s a lie!” another Democrat yelled as Johnson spoke.
Johnson wouldn’t answer them. “I’m not going to respond to that,” he said. “The American people can draw their own conclusions.”
Sen. Padilla’s office issued a sharp statement right after the incident: “He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
The context is important. Padilla was on official business. “Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations,” the statement said.
Only eight senators in history have ever been censured. Now Johnson is calling for that serious punishment based on a version of events that the video directly contradicts.
Critics say it’s clear what happened: a Latino senator asked tough questions—and got silenced, then smeared.
Now Johnson wants to punish him for it. And Democrats aren’t having it.
Watch the video below:
