{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-padilla-colleagues-announce-bill-to-stand-up-to-trumps-attacks-on-free-speech-safeguard-against-politically-motivated-harassment-and-prosecutions/", "WATCH: Padilla, Colleagues Announce Bill to Stand Up to Trump\u2019s Attacks on Free Speech, Safeguard Against Politically Motivated Harassment and Prosecutions", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 As President Trump and his Administration launch repeated attacks against Americans\u2019 First Amendment rights, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in announcing the No Political Enemies (NOPE) Act, upcoming legislation to protect individuals and organizations, including non-profits, faith groups, media outlets, and educational institutions, from politically motivated harassment and prosecution by the federal government.\n\nThis bill would reaffirm the constitutionally protected right to free speech and establish clear, enforceable protections to deter abuse, empower individuals and organizations to defend themselves, and create meaningful accountability. The legislation would also prohibit the use of federal funds for any investigations or regulatory actions aimed at suppressing protected speech. The announcement follows threats from President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House Senior Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller who have vowed to use the tragic shooting of Charlie Kirk as justification to weaponize the federal government against left-leaning individuals and organizations that don\u2019t align with Trump\u2019s political agenda.\n\nPadilla\u2019s remarks came a day after ABC announced that it would stop airing Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show indefinitely following pressure from Trump\u2019s hand-picked chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Padilla criticized President Trump for suing the New York Times and Wall Street Journal over coverage he opposed, and for threatening a reporter who asked about Attorney General Bondi\u2019s ridiculous pledge to prosecute people for \u201chate speech.\u201d\n\nSenator Padilla\u2019s full remarks, as delivered, are available below:\n\nThank you, Senator Murphy and all my colleagues, for leaning in at this additional critical moment.\n\nThis is the United States of America, where, since the beginning, we have protected free speech.\n\nThat\u2019s why we\u2019re here today, because we have a president and an administration that has been weaponizing the government against their critics, plain and simple. An attorney general who is vowing to prosecute Americans for what she alone deems \u201chate speech,\u201d a president who threatens a reporter with prosecution for asking a question about that, and Donald Trump personally suing the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for publishing stories that he doesn\u2019t like. And just last night, ABC announcing they\u2019re pulling down Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show following the pressure from the chairman of the FCC.\n\nNow, what happened to Jimmy Kimmel last night, and Stephen Colbert, for that matter, isn\u2019t just about one comedian or one television personality, or any one network \u2014 it\u2019s about whether we as Americans still have the freedom to laugh at those in power, to question authority, and to tell the truth without fear of retribution. Now, history shows us that when leaders start silencing entertainers and journalists and critics, it\u2019s not because they\u2019re strong, it\u2019s because they\u2019re weak.\n\nSo we have to ask, what is this Administration afraid of? They\u2019re afraid of accountability, plain and simple, they\u2019re afraid of being questioned and their record being held up to the light, because when their record is exposed on health care, on the economy, on corruption, they know the American people won\u2019t stand for it.\n\nSo make no mistake, they are looking for excuses to crack down on dissent. I\u2019m proud to represent California, and California knows these efforts far too well. We\u2019ve seen Trump respond to overwhelmingly peaceful protests in Southern California to federalize and send in National Guard troops and then deploy the Marines into an American city. We see it today as Donald Trump is trying to extort UCLA and other universities for not falling in line with his agenda, and I experienced it personally when I had the audacity to ask a question at a press conference with the Secretary of Homeland Security and was thrown to the ground and handcuffed.\n\nSo today, it\u2019s no surprise that the Trump Administration is using the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk last week to justify its latest crackdown, and we have all denounced that assassination. We have all denounced political violence in all its forms, anywhere in our country. Now you could disagree with just about everything he stood for or agreed with him, for that matter, but in the spirit of Charlie Kirk, he came to debate, and he was proud to say so. He came to debate and to exercise his right to free speech, no matter how controversial.\n\nSo we\u2019re here to help protect that right for all Americans through legislation to prevent the President of the United States from punishing people for constitutionally protected speech.\n\nBecause the day that we stop fighting for our rights is the day that we lose them, and we\u2019re not going to go quietly.\n\nThank you, colleagues, thank you, Senator Murphy.\n\nA recording of today\u2019s full press conference is available here. A one-pager on the NOPE Act can be found here.\n\nSpecifically, the NOPE Act would prevent the targeting of individuals or organizations on the basis of their constitutionally protected speech, beliefs, and political participation by:\n\nReaffirming our Constitution and laws prohibit the president from weaponizing government against people who disagree with the administration. Uphold foundational constitutional principles that protect free speech and political participation. The Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and other government agencies cannot be used to silence or target people for criticizing the government with constitutionally protected speech.\n\nDeterring government officials from abusing their power to silence or retaliate against critics. Deter misconduct by making clear there are consequences for violating federal civil rights laws and that federal officials can be held accountable for abuses.\n\nProviding tools for those wrongly targeted to defend themselves in court, including meaningful access to evidence, correcting the imbalance of proof, having the legal costs to defend themselves covered, and allowing courts to quickly dismiss abusive actions.\n\nProviding due process for any U.S. nonprofits the government attempts to label as criminal or terrorist organizations.\n\nImproving transparency and accountability for federal agencies that seek to silence critics. Create mechanisms for improved reporting and accountability for government agencies so that officials who commit misconduct by abusing their power to censor or retaliate against critics can be held accountable.\n\nShortly after CBS announced they were canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Padilla joined the show to call out the Trump Administration\u2019s cruel, unpopular mass deportations.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-padilla-colleagues-announce-bill-to-stand-up-to-trumps-attacks-on-free-speech-safeguard-against-politically-motivated-harassment-and-prosecutions/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.232197042554617, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}