Transcript: Sen. Alex Padilla on

The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Dec. 1, 2024.

MAJOR GARRETT: Welcome back to Face The Nation. We go now to California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla. He joins us this morning from Porter Ranch, California. Senator, good to see you. Let’s start with Kash Patel. Your reaction to that nomination, or that suggested nomination from President-elect Trump?

SEN. PADILLA: Well, good morning. Great to be with you. And look the this announcement that Kash Patel is going to be nominated for a high ranking position at the FBI, very key to the Department of Justice. Raises a lot of the same questions that other announcements and other nominations raise, are they going to go in there and do the job of- that the Department of Justice calls for to truly, truly be independent of the President of the United States? Or is he going either to do Trump’s bidding? That’s the big question here. Is it a genuine, legitimate appointment? Or a political appointment to politicize the Bureau and the Department in Trump’s in- Trump’s favor? That’s just the beginning of the questions that we expect to raise in the car in the confirmation hearings that will begin in January.

MAJOR GARRETT: Do you expect that the current FBI director who has three years remaining will just have to resign?

SEN. PADILLA: Well that’s going to be a personal decision for Director Wray who, like the public should remember, both a Trump appointee to begin with. And so he’s got three years left. It’s up to him to resign or not. Your prior guest suggested that Trump may very well fire him, which is just par for the course. Anybody who recalls the first Trump administration recalls a whole lot of cabinet officials being named, being confirmed, and being sold as the greatest thing since sliced bread. And as soon as they lose favor with Trump, as soon as they don’t do 100% of what he’s demanding all of a sudden, you know, they’re fired a lot of times by social media posts. And so who knows what Donald Trump is going to decide to do, whether it’s with Director Wray, Kash Patel or any of his other nominees this coming term.

MAJOR GARRETT: During the first Trump administration, California fashioned itself the resistance state. Some Democrats in the legislature have already begun to describe that as a cliche and say they don’t even know what that means anymore. What does it mean?

SEN. PADILLA: Look, I think there’s a lot of reason for concern of the second Trump administration, if the first administration is any indicator. I think as the governor, as other legislative leaders and even the congressional delegation have said, if- if you know, the federal government will continue to support California in its leadership in so many policy areas, there’s a lot of good work to be done there. But Donald Trump has made it no secret that he has it in for California, whether it’s the withholding of disaster funds. I mean, a lot of FEMA dollars that Donald Trump tried to keep from not the state government of California, but from California families, simply because it’s a state that did not vote for him in the presidential election. We’re trying to inoculate ourselves from those types of threats. There’s also a lot of good that can be finalized before the end of the Biden administration, whether it’s Environmental Protection Agency waivers that will allow California to continue to grow our economy while tackling climate change aggressively. Waivers at Health and Human Services that would give California a little bit of flexibility with our Medicare dollars to be able to also treat behavioral health issues, mental health issues of Californians, because when we know that treating the whole body is good for both physical and mental health. we’re trying to make sure those waivers–

MAJOR GARRETT: –Where do those waivers–

SEN. PADILLA: –are locked in before the end of the Biden administration.

MAJOR GARRETT: Where do you stand with the Biden administration on that, Senator? Are they going to be responsive?

SEN. PADILLA: They’ve been very encouraging that the technical work can and should be done before the end of the term, but we’ll note when there’s signatures on the documents that we need. But again, these are just examples we want to lock into place before President Trump comes into office, and then can use it, either as a threat, as a punishment, or, as Senator Cruz mentioned in the prior segment, simply leverage to get other things he would want out of California.

MAJOR GARRETT: You know, President elect Trump has promised mass deportations. You also know, in California, there is a state law that tells local law enforcement not to participate and cooperate with ICE agents in deportation or identification processes. The incoming Trump administration border czar, Tom Homan, has said any law enforcement who don’t cooperate will be prosecuted under federal law. How is this going to be resolved?

SEN. PADILLA: Yeah, well, I think there’s an important distinction here. No state government, not Texas, not California, not any state in the nation has a constitutional authority to impose federal immigration law that is the responsibility of the Federal Government. Some states like Texas want to push the envelope and try to find a way to assist, but there’s no obligation to do so, and that’s what California leaders and municipal leaders throughout the state are saying. You know, we’re not going to utilize state and local resources to do the federal government’s job for them. Number one, I think there’s a long history of this being smart public safety policy as well. California is the most populous state in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation, and the last thing you want to do is have immigrants who are victims of crime afraid to come forward to report that crime. The last thing you want is immigrants who may be witnesses to crime to be afraid to come forward and share any information that they have in the investigation and prosecution of crimes. That’s what we’re talking about here. Let the federal government do the federal government’s job, but have state and local officials do the state and local officials job. There doesn’t have to be a conflict unless that’s what Trump wants.

MAJOR GARRETT: The governor has called a special session that will convene this week to set aside money to battle the Trump administration. Will some of that money also be set aside to protect migrants and undocumented immigrants in California as they seek either legal advice or continued legal financial backing to support their efforts to stay within California and the United States?

SEN. PADILLA: Again, if the first Trump administration is any indicator, we know that there will continue to be a lot of fear in communities and communities that deserve to know what their rights are and what their rights are not. And so if it’s legal assistance, legal advice, legal support, that’s just the California way. We embrace our diversity, our diversity has made our communities thrive and our economy thrive. And so we will assist families against the threats of the Trump administration, if we wanted to sort of cut to the chase. You know, we’re hearing a lot of bombas- from Trump and his allies about the biggest deportation operation in our country’s history, on the one hand, versus a- maybe a focus on violent criminals on the other. Nobody- nobody disagrees with a focus on violent criminals. Democrats, Republicans agree, but that’s very different than millions and millions of people being deported indiscriminately, not just tearing families apart, tearing communities apart, but tremendous damage to our economy that that would create.

MAJOR GARRETT: Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat from California, we thank you for your time this morning, and we’ll be back right away a lot more Face the Nation. I invite you to please stay with us.