Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) isn’t the most well-known of the GOP members of Congress who say outlandish things frequently.
However, Rep. Luna, first elected in 2022, has certainly done quite a bit of that. In 2023, Rep. Luna went all-in on the allegation that President Biden and his son had accepted $5 million bribes, claiming that “the FBI is fearful that the informant who provided information alleging a $5 million bribery scheme involving President Biden ‘will be killed’ if their identity is revealed.”
That “informant,” Alexander Smirnov, was no informant at all, and this week pled guilty to providing “false derogatory information” about Joe and Hunter Biden.
The Washington Post, in a profile in 2023, claimed that Luna had exaggerated claims of Jewish heritage.
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On Thursday, during Congressional proceedings involving a possible deal to avoid a government shutdown, Luna was “hackled into silence” by Democrats, per The Daily Beast, after she blamed the other party for the collapse of the deal.
Luna gets heckled while trying to blame Democrats for a potential shutdown pic.twitter.com/SbzpAx9gZr
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 19, 2024
Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), serving as Speaker Pro Tempore, pounded his gavel, which appeared to break, per the Beast.
“My colleagues are reminded the gentlewoman has the floor and has the right to be heard,” Molinaro said. “The gentlewoman has the right to be heard and the gentlewoman would be reminded to direct her comments to the chair.”
Luna went on to describe Trump as “the only president in my lifetime who fulfilled all his campaign promises to the American people, have promised to cut hundreds of billions in reconciliation.”
J.D. Vance, also, blamed Democrats for the tanking of the deal.
“…GOP Reps. Tom Cole, Stephanie Bice and Mario Diaz-Balart told reporters there is an agreement on a government funding plan as they exited House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office where they have been meeting all morning….” https://t.co/zIwHA4mKYV
— Cherry Dong (@cherrydong2013) December 19, 2024
On Wednesday, a deal had been reached to pass a continuing resolution to continue funding the government into 2025. However, Elon Musk loudly objected, Donald Trump rejected it, and the deal collapsed. On Thursday, a new deal, slightly different from the first, was reached, but that too was rejected by the House, with most Democrats joined by dozens of Republicans in voting no.
Per CNN, the rejected deal included “a three-month extension of government funding, a two-year suspension of the debt limit into January 2027, as well as roughly $110 billion for disaster relief.” In addition, the first deal included “a package of reforms for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the controversial middlemen between drug manufacturers and insurers who have raised the ire of Congress and many others with their opaque practice.”
Meanwhile, CNN also reported that Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota has called on Trump to come to Washington to participate in negotiations directly, despite Trump not being president yet.
