POGO Condemns Administration’s Treatment of Senator Alex Padilla

Washington, D.C. — In response to the treatment of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) at a Department of Homeland Security press conference today, Danielle Brian, executive director and president of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), issued the following statement: 

“First, the Trump administration indicted a member of the House for exercising legitimate oversight. Now, a U.S. senator has been forcibly removed for asking questions of a cabinet secretary. 

“Senator Padilla was doing exactly what we expect from our representatives by demanding answers and accountability from those in power. If a sitting senator can’t question government officials without fear of violence, then what protections remain for ordinary citizens? 

“This kind of appalling behavior should never be tolerated — no matter who is in power, what party they belong to, or what the issue is. Our country was founded on dissent. The Constitution guarantees our right to speak out, and it also ensures that Congress is the first branch of government. And contrary to Secretary Noem’s authoritarian rhetoric, the federal government doesn’t have the power to dispose of duly elected state officials.  

“If this administration is willing to misuse the law and physical force against members of Congress, it sends a clear and dangerous signal that there are no limits to how it will treat everyone else. This was not only an assault on Senator Padilla – it was an assault on the American people.”