Florida Democrat slammed for defending Californian Congressman in recent incident: “Democrats can’t follow the rules!”
Florida – Tempers flared on Capitol Hill recently when two lawmakers got into a violent argument during a House Oversight Committee hearing. Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) told Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida) to “just shut up.” After Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) was forcibly removed from a press conference conducted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, tensions rose as Democrats demanded answers.
The heated discussion started when news broke that Padilla’s security team had forcefully removed him from Noem’s briefing. Padilla said he went to the briefing to find out more about what was going on with immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. He says he was there peacefully and started to ask a question when security immediately stepped in, pushed him to the ground, and put him in handcuffs.
“I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful or disruptive – and I don’t think I was,” the senator later said. “I was simply asking a question just as the members of the press corps ask questions, members of the Congress, members of the Senate ask questions to do our job to hold the administration accountable.”
The news of the incident went fast around Washington, and Democrats are concerned about what they see as a potential abuse of power. Rep. Frost kept asking Chairman Comer to issue a subpoena to Noem at the Oversight Committee hearing so that she could explain what her agency did.
Comer, appearing increasingly frustrated by the interruptions, abruptly cut Frost off.
“Shut up!” he shouted at Frost. “Just shut up!”
Frost, undeterred, pushed back immediately. “No, you’re not going to tell me to shut up,” he responded sharply, prompting murmurs across the chamber.
The confrontation didn’t end there. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) jumped in to defend Comer and took aim at Frost.
“Democrats can’t follow the rules! Can’t follow the law!” she randomly yelled.
Greene went further, referring to Frost as a “former Antifa member.” When Frost asked that her remarks be struck from the record, Comer refused.
Greene later explained what she meant by saying that Frost had been arrested at a voting rights action in 2021. Frost has since admitted this, calling it an act of “nonviolent resistance.”
After Padilla was fired and the committee refused to act, Democratic members of the Oversight Committee, led by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.), wrote a letter denouncing the administration and calling for Noem to come before Congress.
“This shocking encounter adds to a litany of alarming moves by the Trump Administration to seize and abuse power, including by turning the military on the American people,” said the letter.
“The Trump Administration has mobilized the military to the streets of an American city, and any other city could be next. The Trump Administration has violently tackled, kneeled on, and handcuffed a sitting U.S. senator, and any other American could be next.”
Despite growing outrage among Democrats, most Republicans on the committee have brushed off the situation, declining to pursue further action or inquiry.
For now, the push to bring Secretary Noem before Congress remains stalled—yet the fallout from this chaotic hearing and the broader clash over immigration enforcement appears far from over.
