Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) criticized Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) attempt to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference in Los Angeles, saying he should have been in Washington to vote and compared him to a grandstander.
The No. 2 Senate GOP member told reporters he had not yet seen the video of
Padilla being forcibly removed
and eventually handcuffed, but he pressed Padilla should not have skipped out on a series of votes Thursday.
“I think he should have been here in Washington voting,” Barrasso said.
“He has a responsibility to his constituents to show up at work,” he continued. “Not to go try to make a spectacle of himself.”
Padilla’s office said he was in Los Angeles to perform congressional oversight of the government’s response to the protests in the city over the past week and was at the same federal building as Noem for a briefing.
“He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed,” his office said in a statement. “He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
Padilla was one of three members who missed all five votes on Thursday before lawmakers recessed for the week.
