Three blue state governors were on defense for hours on Thursday during a marathon House Oversight Committee hearing where Republicans accused them of reckless immigration policies in their states.
Govs. Tim Walz (D-MN), JB Pritzker (D-IL), and Kathy Hochul (D-NY) testified at the high-profile hearing that ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a few breaks. There were many fireworks as Republicans grilled their home state governors and even some fireworks between members themselves.
Afterward, Pritzker, who is considered a possible 2028 presidential contender, dismissed the hearing as a waste of time because lawmakers weren’t really interested in solutions such as immigration reform.
“This hearing was a demonstration of just how bad this Republican-controlled Congress really is,” Pritzker said. “Again, nothing accomplished. An entire day of just harping on something that, frankly, most of which was false. … I think this entire Republican-controlled Congress is a waste.”
Here are the top takeaways from the hearing.
1. Members seeking higher offices make a splash
Many members, who are eyeing higher offices such as a Senate or gubernatorial run, questioned the witnesses with Republicans laying into the governors and Democrats condemning the Trump administration and the hearing as “unserious.”
Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) grilled Hochul as both House Republicans eye a run for governor in the state where they would seek to unseat Hochul.
“We deserve a governor who stands up for law-abiding New Yorkers,” Stefanik said before an increasingly frustrated Hochul, who repeatedly attempted to condemn the crimes by illegal immigrants.
“These crimes are horrific, I condemn them,” Hochul stated.
“Because of your sanctuary state policies,” Stefanik quipped back.
Lawler told Hochul after a heated exchange, “New York is better off with you down here and not in the state.”
“I don’t think it’s better off with you here,” she responded.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a top contender for the open Illinois Senate seat, attacked President Donald Trump, saying, “he may not like state law, as we are seeing in California.”
This hearing comes as protests continue to sweep Los Angeles following Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that happened last week.
Trump has called up the National Guard and activated U.S. Marines to deal with the protests in California, against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) wishes. Protests against Trump’s mass deportation operation carried out by ICE have turned violent at times.
2. Governors dare Trump’s border czar Tom Homan to arrest them
The governors defended Newsom’s position that Trump sending in the National Guard to control anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles undermined local law enforcement. Trump also expressed support for Newsom’s arrest earlier this week after the governor dared the border czar Tom Homan to arrest him following the National Guard coming in.
The governors said Trump’s border czar can “try” to come and arrest them, too.
“If Tom Homan comes to Albany to arrest me, I’ll say go for it,” Hochul said.
“I have the highest duty to protect the people of my state, and indeed, if Tom Homan were to come to try to arrest us, me, rather, I can say first of all that he can try,” Pritzker added.
3. News of Padilla’s handcuffing sparks divisions
During the hearing, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was shoved out of a Department of Homeland Security press conference in California after he interrupted Secretary Kristi Noem and approached her podium with questions. Security officials, possibly not knowing he was a senator, treated his approach and physical resistance as a threat to the secretary and acted to remove and restrain him.
Members added the headlines of stories about Padilla into the hearing’s official record.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) showed a printout photo of the post on X showing the senator being shoved out and reading the news that he was “forcefully removed from the news conference being held by DHS Kristi Noem.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) showed the video of Padilla, where Comer then argued that they should show the portion where he approached Noem.
House Oversight acting ranking member Stephen Lynch (D-MA) asked for an investigation into the incident to take place in House Oversight.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said, “Mr. Chairman, for the record, he rushed the podium. He was being disruptive.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told reporters that “sitting members of Congress” were “lying about what happened” with Padilla.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) got into a screaming match involving House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) when he asked for a point of order to subpoena Noem. Comer told Frost to “shut up,” and Greene then accused Frost of being a “former antifa member.”
“He has been out of order six times, he’s trying to get on MSNBC,” Comer said of Frost.
4. Republicans question Walz on Biden’s mental fitness
While the hearing was largely focused on immigration, Comer grilled Walz on his vice presidential run with former Vice President Kamala Harris, asking what he knew about former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.
“Did you ever ask Vice President Harris about former President Biden’s … cognitive decline?” Comer asked.
“No, not that I can recall,” Walz said.
Comer pressed Walz on why he wouldn’t have asked Harris about Biden’s health after the disastrous debate performance against Trump that ultimately led to Biden dropping out of the race.
“I was probably more concerned with my own debate performance than President Biden’s, so no,” Walz insisted.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating Biden’s health decline and whether his White House aides not only shielded him from the public but also used an autopen to carry out official business without his knowledge. Autopen usage is not uncommon in modern White Houses, and Biden has insisted he was the ultimate decision maker on executive actions and pardons.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) also grilled Walz on the mental decline of Biden while in office and whether Harris talked to him about it. “Not that I can recall,” he said.
BIDEN AIDES LINED UP TO APPEAR BEFORE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IN AUTOPEN INVESTIGATION
5. Governors grilled on past quotes
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) questioned Pritzker on an X post made by the governor back in 2017, calling on people to protest against Trump by using the other gender’s bathroom.
“Have you ever considered that women don’t want you in their bathrooms?” Gill asked.
Walz was on defense throughout the hearing for previously calling ICE agents “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo” during a commencement speech at the University of Minnesota Law School, claiming agents were “scooping folks up off the streets” who were being “disappeared.”
Asked to apologize or recant for comparing U.S law enforcement to Nazi’s treatment of Jews, Walz refused. But he got an ally in Lynch, the top Democrat at the hearing, who condemned how ICE agents were abducting “peaceful” illegal immigrants from their communities.
“When you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing people off the streets of Poland, and you compare them to those nondescript thugs … it does look like a Gestapo operation,” Lynch said.