Analysis · Floor speech · beta

Alex Padilla

Democrat on Elections 2026-09-14

1349 words · 77 sentences · 97 clauses

Statement grade

Average 78 / 100

A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.

Claims 65%Positioning 12%Promise 2%Procedure 6%Reasoning 11%The ask 3%

This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.

Madam President, Claims · 46 wordsas our colleagues know, I serve as ranking member of the Rules Committee, ¹which oversees Federal elections. I also serve on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration.² And I reference this because last week, I received a protected disclosure from an anonymous Federal whistleblower.³ Positioning · 40 wordsAt a time when many Americans feel discouraged by the Trump administration’s unprecedented chaos and corruption, it is heartening to see a Federal Government employee with the integrity and the courage to expose potential illegal activity and abuse of power.PositioningUnearned certainty Claims · 10 wordsToday, Leader Schumer and I made the full disclosure public, ⁴Promise · 11 wordsand I am going to go over some of these highlights, Procedure · 22 wordswhich are incredibly disturbing. They are disturbing to me, and I think they should be disturbing to every Member of this Chamber.Procedure Claims · 126 wordsFirst, leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has ordered hundreds of employees in USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Division to stop doing the jobs they were hired and trained to do and instead watch a short training video and immediately turn their time and attention to something called the Unlawful Voter Initiative.⁵ They were directed to stop their anti-fraud work. This administration makes a lot of claims about going after fraud. They were directed to stop their national security screenings. They were directed to stop all the things that this administration claims it cares about and instead go on a wild goose chase to find or manufacture evidence for the President’s conspiracy theories of widespread voter fraud. Reasoning · 12 wordsThis, without question, is a terrible waste and misuse of Agency resources, Unearned certaintyProcedure · 11 wordsbut colleagues, it is actually so much more worse than that.Procedure Claims · 155 wordsThe whistleblower disclosure also includes compelling claims that USCIS officers are being directed to lie and to misrepresent themselves in order to search voters’ sensitive personal information on State election officials’ websites. Let me say that again. Federal officers are being told by headquarters to lie or to misrepresent themselves in order to access State voter data.⁶ It is a clear violation of State laws, and these violations have likely occurred thousands and thousands of times. On some State websites, officers are being told to attest under penalty of law that they are the voter or the voter’s representative. On other websites, like the one of my home State of California, officers are being told to misrepresent themselves and enter voters’ sensitive information like Social Security or driver’s license numbers. When USCIS officers expressed concerns with these practices, they have been told by Agency leadership to just go ahead, that they won’t be ``personally liable.’’ Procedure · 6 wordsThink about that for a second.Procedure Reasoning · 40 wordsIf what the Department is doing and if what these officers are being told to do was legal, it begs the question of, why would they need to be reassured by Agency lawyers that they won’t be held personally liable? Claims · 61 wordsThe whistleblower disclosure also reveals that DHS is using their own unreliable data to target people for investigation. That is right--data that the Department and Agencies already acknowledge is unreliable. Agency leadership is then forcing USCIS officers to create Federal law enforcement records against people, many of them U.S. citizens, even though they have doubts about the accuracy of the data. Procedure · 6 wordsSo let’s take a step back.Procedure Positioning · 5 wordsWhy are they doing this?Positioning Claims · 47 wordsWell, the Trump administration has tried and failed to force States to hand over these voter rolls. President Trump tried it in his first term through a sham Commission which failed and then weaponized the Federal Government to try to accomplish it here in his second term.⁷ Procedure · 3 wordsBut guess what.Procedure Claims · 24 wordsThey have been taken to court, and they have lost in court over 30 times.⁸ States represented by Democrats and Republicans have said no, Positioning · 32 wordsso the proverbial front door is locked. As much as Trump wants access to voter data, the front door is locked, and now they are trying to break in a back door.Positioning Claims · 48 wordsThey are using something called supplemental magic. That is right--in the materials that have been uncovered, they are using this supplemental magic to create a list of people that they think are not eligible to vote. Remember, the Agency has already said they know the data is unreliable. Procedure · 9 wordsSo, frankly, this disclosure raises a lot of questions.Procedure Positioning · 27 wordsWhy is this initiative happening now? Who are the potentially hundreds of thousands of people being investigated? Who are they? And what the heck is supplemental magic?Positioning The ask · 11 wordsWe need answers. This Senate--Congress--deserves answers. The American people deserve answers. Claims · 16 wordsAgency training materials for this initiative say that ``raw data includes a lot of U.S. citizens.’’⁹ Procedure · 4 wordsLet me repeat that.Procedure Claims · 13 wordsThe training materials acknowledge that the data includes ``a lot of U.S. citizens.’’ Positioning · 13 wordsSo why would you target them when you are looking for noncitizen voters?Positioning Claims · 45 wordsDHS and USCIS also admit that their data is unreliable, complex, and will have multiple ID numbers for various individuals. Nevertheless, officers are told to generate Federal law enforcement records against them, even if they suspect that they are relying on inaccurate or incomplete information. Reasoning · 16 wordsIt is already clear that this Unlawful Voter Initiative is inaccurate, not to mention likely illegal, Unearned certaintyClaims · 28 wordsbut to make matters worse, it has also been rushed, and it is reckless because rank-and-file USCIS officers are given reckless quotas to review 40 people per day.¹⁰ Procedure · 3 wordsDo the math.Procedure Claims · 11 wordsThat is five people per hour or 12 minutes per individual. Reasoning · 33 wordsColleagues, you know as well as I that 12 minutes to review unreliable data and complex immigration history is not an adequate amount of time to conduct a thorough investigation--because these aren’t that; Positioning · 4 wordsthese are sham investigations.Positioning Claims · 15 wordsWe all know that voting by a noncitizen is illegal. That is already the law. Procedure · 6 wordsYou know that. I know that.Procedure Claims · 25 wordsWe also know that based on study after study, report after report, audit after audit, it is extremely, extremely rare.Unearned certainty Our current safeguards are working. Reasoning · 26 wordsThis Unlawful Voter Initiative does not appear to be a legitimate effort, and we should not take anything that comes out of it at face value. Positioning · 37 wordsJust 12 minutes for an investigation, a lot of U.S. citizens, the unreliable magic data, and potentially thousands of violations of State and Federal privacy laws--saying that this is dangerous for our democracy is a huge understatement.Positioning Claims · 27 wordsThis is more than a reckless attempt to prove Donald Trump’s election-denial talking points, like the ones he used in the White House speech this past July.¹¹ Reasoning · 17 wordsDiversion of Federal law enforcement to break laws for political purposes is a clear abuse of power, Claims · 129 wordsand there is a very real danger that thousands of naturalized U.S. citizens and legal residents will potentially face negative consequences because of this sham investigation. This isn’t just about voting; this could lead to unwarranted secondary screening at airports, consequences for immigration benefits, referrals to HSI or the FBI for criminal investigation, and no clear recourse to undo the consequences of an erroneous Federal law enforcement record being created after a quick 12-minute review. There is also the danger that Donald Trump will use false numbers of supposed votes cast by noncitizens to threaten to prosecute State and elections officials that he doesn’t like. The President and his allies could even try using the unreliable results of this Unlawful Voter Initiative to undermine and challenge election results themselves. Positioning · 10 wordsThat is right--January 6 was not the end of this.Positioning Claims · 23 wordsSo, today, Senator Schumer and I sent this whistleblower’s disclosure regarding the so-called Unlawful Voter Initiative to Secretary Mullin and USCIS Director Edlow.¹² The ask · 32 wordsWe are demanding an immediate halt to these activities. We are demanding transparency from DHS. We are demanding the removal of unreliable law enforcement records, many of which are against U.S. citizens. Promise · 12 wordsWe will have more to say about this in the coming days.Vague promise Claims · 16 wordsI would remind the Department and USCIS that whistleblowers to Congress are protected by Federal law.¹³ Procedure · 3 wordsLet me repeat: ProcedureClaims · 8 wordsWhistleblowers to Congress are protected by Federal law. Promise · 5 wordsThis individual will remain anonymous, Claims · 9 wordsand any attempt at retaliation is illegal and wrong. Procedure · 11 wordsI yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.Procedure

At a glance

Lost points for

Switch Claims on to list the checkable claims here.

What the tags mean

Signal · 71

29 of 34 deductions are Signal

Signal checks whether every part makes a point, gives a reason, or asks for action. A low score means the speaker filled time with fluff, pleasantries, or attacks.

Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “At a time when many Americans feel discouraged by the Trump administration’s unprecedented chaos and corruption, it is heartening to see a Federal Government employee with the integrity and the courage to expose potential illegal activity and abuse of power.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “which are incredibly disturbing.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “They are disturbing to me,”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “and I think they should be disturbing to every Member of this Chamber.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “but colleagues, it is actually so much more worse than that.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “Think about that for a second.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “So let’s take a step back.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “Why are they doing this?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “But guess what.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “so the proverbial front door is locked.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “As much as Trump wants access to voter data, the front door is locked,”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “and now they are trying to break in a back door.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “So, frankly, this disclosure raises a lot of questions.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “Why is this initiative happening now?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “Who are the potentially hundreds of thousands of people being investigated?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “Who are they?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “And what the heck is supplemental magic?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “Let me repeat that.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “So why would you target them when you are looking for noncitizen voters?”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “Do the math.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “these are sham investigations.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “You know that.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I know that.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “Just 12 minutes for an investigation, a lot of U.S. citizens, the unreliable magic data,”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “and potentially thousands of violations of State and Federal privacy laws--saying that this is dangerous for our democracy is a huge understatement.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “That is right--January 6 was not the end of this.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “Let me repeat:”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I yield the floor.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I suggest the absence of a quorum.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.

Relevance · no score

Not applicable: nothing to answer. Excluded from the average.

Relevance checks whether the speaker stays on topic and answers the question asked. A low score means the speaker dodged the issue.

Respect · no score

Not checked: graded before this measurement existed. Excluded from the average.

Respect checks whether the speaker argued with people’s positions and records rather than attacking the people: insults, mockery, or bad motives assigned to them. Criticism of what someone did, however strong, is not marked.

Clarity · 86

5 of 34 deductions are Clarity

Clarity checks for plain speaking, clear ownership of actions, and honest limits on certainty. A low score means vague promises or evasive language.

Something stated as certain with nothing to back it.What the tags mean “unprecedented chaos and corruption”Asserts unprecedented wrongdoing without a source or evidence offered.
Something stated as certain with nothing to back it.What the tags mean “without question”A certainty formula asserted in place of a source or argument.
Something stated as certain with nothing to back it.What the tags mean “It is already clear”Certainty asserted in place of evidence for the claim of illegality.
Something stated as certain with nothing to back it.What the tags mean “study after study, report after report, audit after audit”A formula that gestures at sources without citing any.
A promise with no date, no measure and no one responsible.What the tags mean “We will have more to say about this in the coming days”Commits to unspecified future action with no concrete measure.

Claims · 13

This list shows the factual statements you can check for yourself: the words as said, and the claim restated to stand on its own.

1“I serve as ranking member of the Rules Committee”Alex Padilla serves as ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee.search
2“I also serve on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration.”Alex Padilla serves on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration.search
3“last week, I received a protected disclosure from an anonymous Federal whistleblower”Padilla received a protected whistleblower disclosure in the week before September 14, 2026.search
4“Today, Leader Schumer and I made the full disclosure public”Schumer and Padilla made the whistleblower disclosure public on September 14, 2026.search
5“ordered hundreds of employees in USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Division to stop doing the jobs they were hired and trained to do”USCIS leadership ordered hundreds of employees in the Fraud Detection and National Security Division to redirect their work to the Unlawful Voter Initiative.search
6“Federal officers are being told by headquarters to lie or to misrepresent themselves in order to access State voter data.”According to the disclosure, USCIS officers were directed by headquarters to misrepresent themselves to access State voter data.search
7“President Trump tried it in his first term through a sham Commission”President Trump created a commission in his first term that sought voter roll data from States and was later disbanded.search
8“they have lost in court over 30 times”Litigation over Trump administration efforts to obtain voter data has resulted in more than 30 court losses for the administration.search
9“raw data includes a lot of U.S. citizens”The Unlawful Voter Initiative training materials state that ‘raw data includes a lot of U.S. citizens.’search
10“given reckless quotas to review 40 people per day”USCIS officers working on the Unlawful Voter Initiative were given a quota of reviewing 40 people per day.search
11“the ones he used in the White House speech this past July”Donald Trump gave a White House speech in July 2026 that included election-denial talking points.search
12“Senator Schumer and I sent this whistleblower’s disclosure regarding the so-called Unlawful Voter Initiative to Secretary Mullin and USCIS Director Edlow.”On September 14, 2026, Schumer and Padilla sent the whistleblower disclosure to DHS Secretary Mullin and USCIS Director Edlow.search
13“whistleblowers to Congress are protected by Federal law”Federal law provides protections for whistleblowers who disclose information to Congress.search

Analyzed on 2026-09-16