Senator Merkley Condemns Authoritarian Behavior After Senator Padilla's Removal from DHS Briefing

Outrage Over Senator Padilla's Removal

• 🚨 Senator Jeff Merkley expressed extreme outrage over the executive branch's security team forcibly removing Senator Alex Padilla from a DHS briefing.
• ⚡ The incident involved shoving a US senator, putting them on the ground, and attempting to handcuff them, which Merkley likened to actions in authoritarian nations.

Concerns About Executive Overreach

• ⚖️ Merkley stated that the executive branch, under the current president, is willfully breaking laws and attacking institutions, including the press and universities.
• 🏛️ He criticized the notion that the president is above the law, citing the Trump v. United States lawsuit and the power to issue pardons as evidence of this belief.
• ⚠️ The senator warned that if the US slides into an authoritarian state through a subservient Congress and a differential Supreme Court, the oath to the Constitution has been failed.

Call for Bipartisan Investigation

• 🤝 Merkley echoed Leader Schumer's call for a full bipartisan investigation into the incident.
• ✊ He emphasized that all members of the legislative branch have taken an oath to the Constitution and should stand up for each other's ability to question administration policies.