BREAKING: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem rushed to DC hospital: report

"Secretary Noem had an allergic reaction today. She was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. She is alert and recovering," NewsNation White House correspondent Kellie Meyer posted to X. "A DHS official tells me."

Noem was conscious at the hospital and has spoken with her security detail. Noem was released later that night, according to a statement from spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Noem was recently at the center of a high-profile incident involving the removal of Democratic Senator Alex Padilla from a DHS press conference.

During the briefing, which addressed the federal response to ongoing anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, Padilla interrupted Noem and was forcibly removed by her security detail.

The senator was pushed to the ground and handcuffed, though not formally arrested. The incident drew sharp criticism from Democratic leaders, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it a “shameful abuse of power” and demanding an investigation.

Noem's team stated her security was unaware Padilla was a sitting senator and responded based on the disruption and perceived threat. CNN’s Josh Campbell, a former FBI agent, defended the removal, noting that Padilla re-engaged with agents after initially being escorted out.

"First, you have the DHS Secretary who is addressing the press - this was not a Q&A period - and she's interrupted by someone who was speaking very loudly," he continued. "So, her security detail confronts [Padilla], and at that point, he is now going to be escorted out. You can't interrupt something like that, that's already in progress, without having those consequences."

"But, the second incident in my view happens the moment as officers are trying to lead him out, he then turns and walks back towards those agents. At that point, from a security detail perspective, we're taking this person out against their will. The moment he turned into them, they realized this is not someone who is going to comply," he said.

Secretary Noem's security detail was unaware that the disruptive person was Senator Padilla when they removed him from the briefing and temporarily detained him, according to DHS.

Padilla and his Democratic allies criticized the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to remove him, calling it an overreach and emblematic of deeper problems with the Trump administration’s approach to immigration. “If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question,” Padilla said, “you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers.”

This is a breaking news story. Refresh for updates.