Last Updated on January 14, 2025
Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna discussed steps that America Firsters are taking to hold party leadership accountable and stood with America First firebrand Matt Gaetz in a recent interview with NATIONAL FILE on Capitol Hill.
Luna spoke with NATIONAL FILE shortly after Mike Johnson was elected to a new term as Speaker of the House. Luna spoke about the America First wing’s negotiations with Republican leadership, which will determine whether President Donald Trump is able to fulfill his agenda.
“I think it starts with getting his agenda actually through Congress. And so, as you know, part of the negotiations that we did in the 118th Congress were instrumental for today, specifically the Rules Committee, and making sure that you had people that were pro-MAGA, pro-America First, really hardlining conservatives and Republicans on that (committee)” to help pass legislation, Luna told NATIONAL FILE.
Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie seized his spot on the House Rules Committee alongside Chip Roy and Ralph Norman during a 2023 standoff with party leadership, but Massie got pushed off the committee for standing up to Mike Johnson. Massie said that he was going to give up his Rules Committee spot when he voted against Mike Johnson’s recent re-election to the speakership. The Rules Committee is a prestigious, powerful and hotly contested club within Congress.
“The second thing would be, following through and delivering on the promises to the American people, so that’s going to start with what’s happening during reconciliation. If you’re raising the debt ceiling, you have to have offsets. And I think that’s one of the biggest things that we’re going to be tackling as a united conference. So those talks have already begun,” Luna said.
Luna defended her former colleague Matt Gaetz’s nomination for Attorney General. Gaetz decided to withdraw from attorney general consideration after GOP leadership failed to sufficiently support him. The party brass in their figurative “smoke-filled room” used a disputed House ethics report to derail Gaetz’s nomination. Gaetz orchestrated the ouster of former Swamp Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the “22 Days of Chaos” that led to the installation of Mike Johnson as Speaker.
“I don’t think that he was railroaded. I think that he made his decision to tap out on his own, but as you know I was supportive of his nomination,” Luna said of Gaetz, who is considering running for statewide office in Florida.
Luna’s role in Congress is even more important now that rabble-rouser Gaetz has given up his seat. NATIONAL FILE will keep you updated on the ongoing conflict between populists and Swampers in the nation’s misbegotten capital as President Donald J. Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office. Luna notably appeared on the November/December cover of Maxim magazine.