Political Watch: June 19, 2025

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• On June 12, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) was forcibly removed from U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles, while “exercising his duty to perform congressional oversight in the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California,” according to a statement from Padilla’s office. “[Padilla] 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,” the June 12 statement reads. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Padilla “should be ashamed of his childish behavior,” in an X post on June 12. “He crashed the middle of an official press conference being held by a cabinet secretary, recklessly lunged toward the podium where [Noem] was speaking, and then refused to leave the room and follow the directions of law enforcement officers,” Leavitt stated. In a June 15 press release, Padilla described his experience at the conference. “I was at a scheduled briefing with representatives of Northern Command just a couple doors down the hall in the same federal building when I learned of the press conference,” Padilla stated. “My briefing delayed because the folks I was supposed to meet with were at the press conference. So I asked if we could listen in. I was escorted over.” On the topic of his forcible removal, Padilla stated: “If that’s how this administration responds to a senator with a question, don’t just imagine what they’re capable of, but what they are doing when the cameras are not there, to people without a title like [U.S.] senator.” According to Padilla, when Noem’s office offered him a meeting after the incident, “I took it,” he said. Padilla stated that he didn’t receive substantive or informative answers to his questions during this meeting.

• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) co-sponsored U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-Maryland) Truth in Tariffs Act, which would require large retailers to clearly display the portion of an item’s price attributable to tariffs. The bill was designed to give Americans full transparency on the hidden costs of tariffs and protect consumers from price-gouging “by ensuring that large retailers do not use President Trump’s chaotic tariffs rollout as an excuse to hike up prices even further,” according to Carbajal’s office. “Instead of delivering on his promise to lower costs for families, Trump is recklessly imposing new tariff taxes that will have the opposite effect,” Carbajal said in a June 10 statement. “Families who carefully budget every dollar deserve to know how this administration’s trade policies are driving up prices. That’s why I’m co-sponsoring Rep. Raskin’s bill to ensure large retailers provide full transparency on tariff costs—so families can make informed decisions.”

• In a June 13 statement, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) commented on the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “DACA is becoming a teenager, a reminder that many of our Dreamers are now fully grown adults who have worked hard, excelled in school, and built full lives in the only country they have ever called home thanks to the program that has meant hope and opportunity for so many,” Schiff stated. “DACA recipients, one of every four of whom live in California, are part of the fabric of our communities. And at a time when the Trump administration is using indiscriminate immigration enforcement through mass raids, these friends and neighbors remain at great risk. Now more than ever, we need to provide a clear pathway to citizenship for these young people who have always called America home.”

This article appears in Jun 19-29, 2025.