{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-padilla-condemns-trumps-destructive-misuse-of-the-military-opposes-defense-policy-bill/", "WATCH: Padilla Condemns Trump\u2019s Destructive Misuse of the Military, Opposes Defense Policy Bill", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026 (NDAA) vote to call on his Senate colleagues to provide a check on President Trump\u2019s reckless deployment of military force abroad and on U.S. soil. He encouraged Republicans in Congress to exercise their role as a co-equal branch of government to rein in Trump\u2019s harmful foreign policy agenda instead of rubberstamping his conflicts in Latin America and across the globe.\n\nPadilla blasted Trump for destroying decades of bipartisan foreign policy, undermining longstanding alliances like NATO, and cozying up to dictators like Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and Vladimir Putin. He emphasized that Trump\u2019s National Security Strategy abandons our alliances with democracies in the fight against authoritarianism, while supporting temporary, transactional alliances with countries willing to shower him with praise. As Putin continues his crusade to tear up Ukraine, Padilla warned that Trump\u2019s acquiescence will put even more innocent civilians in harm\u2019s way.\n\nPadilla slammed the unlawful bombing of alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific, despite the fact that Congress has not declared war nor authorized the use of military force in Venezuela or anywhere else in Latin America. Congressional Republicans have failed \u2014 twice \u2014 to pass a War Powers Resolution and assert Congress\u2019 Constitutional authority in response to the boat strikes in the Caribbean. He also criticized the Defense Department\u2019s refusal to release videos of the unlawful \u201cdouble tap\u201d strike against survivors in the Caribbean.\n\nAdditionally, Padilla warned his colleagues that President Trump has repeatedly diverted Department of Defense resources, including over $2 billion, to enact his cruel mass deportation campaign and unlawfully deploy National Guard troops to American cities. Last week, a federal judge barred the Trump Administration from continuing to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles, ruling the deployment was unlawful.\n\nAs Trump tries to use the military to build \u201cunquestioned power\u201d and silence dissent, Padilla called on his Republican colleagues to restore accountability and prevent the Administration from eroding our national security even further. He announced his intent to vote \u2018no\u2019 on the NDAA, urging his colleagues to use this opportunity to stand up to Trump\u2019s abuse of power and deployment of troops against American citizens.\u00ad\n\nKey Excerpts:\n\n\u201cMake no mistake: this year is anything but normal. What we\u2019ve seen just one year into this second Trump Administration is the destruction of eight decades of bipartisan foreign policy consensus and the destruction of post-war alliances that have kept Americans safe for generations. And we\u2019ve seen growing abuses of power meant to enrich Donald Trump and his allies.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this was solely about stopping drug traffickers, I don\u2019t think there would be disagreement or objection here to a law enforcement-based approach to do exactly that. Of course we want to stop drug trafficking. But the Trump Administration seemingly can\u2019t to decide if it wants to be crime fighters or war mongers \u2014 and they\u2019ve decided to use the United States military to bomb their way through the Caribbean either way.\u201d\n\n\u201cDonald Trump wants unchallenged use of the military to achieve his every whim and every grievance \u2014 even when it means violating our international norms, betraying our allies, and violating the Constitution. How is that going to make us any safer?\u201d\n\n\u201cDonald Trump is politicizing our servicemembers both by word and by deed. He\u2019s diverted military resources away from numerous, numerous critical missions for his chaotic and violent mass deportation campaign. He\u2019s federalized and deployed National Guard troops in American cities \u2014 against our own citizens \u2014 in violation of the law.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis president is trying to corrupt the military for his own personal gain, and to silence all opposition. He is pushing the legal limits of his authority.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith each passing day, Donald Trump continues to use the Department of Defense as an extension of his Administration\u2019s border enforcement apparatus. Republicans have cheered him on the whole way, abdicating their responsibility to this institution, to their constituents, and to their oath of office.\u201d\n\n\u201cColleagues, this is a president doing everything he can to build \u2018unquestioned power\u2019 over our military, and a Republican party that refuses to challenge him. At a time when the Trump Administration is abusing its power, destroying our standing in the world, deploying troops against our own people, the annual defense authorization bill offers an important opportunity. It\u2019s an important opportunity to hold this Administration accountable \u2014 not just out of responsibility to our constituents, but to the Constitution and to this co-equal branch of government.\u201d\n\n\u201c900 billion dollars is a lot to rubberstamp. And I refuse to hand this Administration any more tools to enrich themselves and undermine our national security and our standing in the world.\u201d\n\nVideo of Padilla\u2019s full remarks is available here.\n\nAmid President Trump\u2019s unlawful deployments of troops to American cities over state and local officials\u2019 strong objections, Padilla, Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and the Illinois and Oregon Senators previously voted against Senate passage of the NDAA.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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-condemns-trumps-destructive-misuse-of-the-military-opposes-defense-policy-bill/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7112810164690018, "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"}