Democrats on Capitol Hill can’t catch a break. 

Just as Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) physical clash with Trump administration security officials had given them cause to unite on the otherwise divisive issue of immigration, Israel’s attack on Iran has shifted the national gaze onto yet another radioactive topic that has long split the party.

While many Democrats quickly condemned conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for launching Israel’s assault on Thursday night, many others hailed the decision as a necessary step to put a halt to Tehran’s nuclear expansion.

The disagreement is an unwelcome one for Democratic leaders, who had rallied forcefully behind Padilla on Thursday afternoon and were hoping to take that unified front into the weekend, when President Trump is staging an elaborate military parade, and then into next week’s holiday, when the House is on a long recess and lawmakers will be back in their districts to confront voters. 

Instead, Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program a mere coincidence of timing has dragged Democrats back into the quarrelsome discussion over Netanyahu’s aggressive military strategy, which has already been a topic of internal strife amid Israel’s demolition of Gaza in search of the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

On one side of that debate are Israel’s closest congressional allies, who quickly cheered Netanyahu’s preemptive attacks as an imperative effort to make the region, and the world, a safer place. 

“The October 7 attacks showed that Israel can leave nothing to chance the threats they face are real, and inaction can cost lives,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement. “The strikes that began last night in Iran targeted military leaders and nuclear facilities that posed a clear risk for Israel and for future peace in the region.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) sounded a similar note, warning that allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons “would place Israel, the United States, and partners in the region under direct and constant danger.” 

“Iran could have prevented this. They chose this path,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “Democratic and Republican administrations have all agreed that Iran should never obtain a nuclear weapon, and this will help that bipartisan goal.”

Many liberal Democrats have a decidedly different view. Those voices have long criticized Netanyahu, especially as the death toll in Gaza has soared beyond 50,000 people, including thousands of children. And they wasted no time blasting the Israeli government’s latest foray into Iran. 

“Israel’s reckless, escalatory strikes on Iran risk igniting a larger regional war, & undermine planned negotiations for a potential new nuclear deal,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the former head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote on X. “Netanyahu must not be allowed to pull America into another forever war. Instead, we must immediately push for negotiated de-escalation.”

Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, piled on, warning that “Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence.”  

“These strikes threaten not only the lives of innocent civilians but the stability of the entire Middle East and the safety of American citizens and forces,” Reed said in a statement. “While tensions between Israel and Iran are real and complex, military aggression of this scale is never the answer.”

The Democratic divisions are not mirrored on the other side of the aisle, where Republicans with a very few exceptions are united in lockstep behind Netanyahu’s attacks.

“What Israel’s preemptive strike ensured tonight is that Iran’s next attack will not be with a nuclear weapon,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Keeping the issue in the headlines, Iran responded on Friday by launching a series of retaliatory ballistic missile strikes, some of which targeted Tel Aviv. Tehran also backed out of its plans to meet with U.S. officials in search of an elusive nuclear deal. Those talks had been scheduled for Sunday in Oman.

The conflict both abroad and within the Democratic Party was not what Democratic leaders had in mind as Congress was leaving Washington on Thursday afternoon. 

Hours earlier, Padilla had confronted Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Homeland Security Department, at a press conference in Los Angeles, where residents have been facing off against law enforcers to protest Trump’s immigration raids. Noem’s security detail grabbed Padilla and pushed him into an adjacent hallway, where he was shoved to the ground and handcuffed.

The scuffle sent alarm bells through the Capitol, where Democrats have been scrambling to locate a unified response to Trump’s aggressive enforcement crackdown in Los Angeles, which has featured the activation of the National Guard without the governor’s consent, and the deployment of hundreds of Marines.

Some Democrats have leaned into the conflict, hoping to keep the focus on Trump’s controversial actions, including some who have called for impeachment. Others have used it to revisit Trump’s role in the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021. Still others have warned against highlighting a contentious topic one that had helped propel Trump to the White House for fear of alienating voters in battleground districts. And party leaders have sought a delicate balance, condemning Trump’s tactics in L.A. while fighting to shift the conversation back to the president’s legislative agenda, including Medicaid cuts and tax cuts for the wealthy.

“He sees the protests in Los Angeles as an excuse to unleash more chaos and distract the American people from the failing economy and his plans to cut Medicaid and food assistance,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said earlier in the week. 

The Padilla affair, in contrast, became a rallying cry. And Democrats in both chambers quickly united in defense of their colleague, accusing the administration of abusing its powers and demanding an investigation into how a sitting U.S. senator could be knocked around by officials of the same government he represents. Many called it an assault.

“The Trump administration is a disgrace. Secretary Noem is a disgrace. The manhandling of Senator Alex Padilla was a complete and total disgrace,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters on the steps of the Capitol on Thursday afternoon.

A short time later, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) organized a march from the House chamber across the Capitol, to the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), demanding a response. When Thune wasn’t there, they retraced their steps and marched into the office of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who declined to see them. 

While the effort was led by the CHC, many other Democrats participated, including top figures like Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the Democratic whip; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee; and the heads of the Black and Asian Pacific American caucuses. 

“I want to really emphasize that this is an all-caucus-wide movement and outrage against the authoritarian, violent behavior of this administration,” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), a former head of the Hispanic Caucus, said outside the Speaker’s office.

Hours later, after the Capitol had emptied and lawmakers had headed home, Israel launched its strikes on Tehran.