- Luna described her conversation with Buck in an interview with Fox Business host Marina Bartiromo
- “If you can’t live by that code of honor, you don’t deserve the title,” Luna said
- Republicans in the House of Representatives are struggling to maintain their shrinking majority
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna revealed that she asked former lawmaker Ken Buck to leave the hardline House Freedom Caucus, citing his efforts to undermine Rep.’s campaign. Lauren Boebert to replace him complicate matters.
Luna, R-Fla., spoke about her behind-the-scenes feud with Buck, R-Colo., during a Fox Business interview with host Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday morning.
“With some Rep. Buck had done especially to another member of Congress, possibly by electing Rep. Boebert, I was actually the member who came forward and asked him to leave the Freedom Caucus,” Luna said.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus voted last week to remove Buck from the caucus, citing his attendance record, just days before his expected resignation from Congress.
“We have a code of honor here and as a result, if you can’t live by that code of honor, you don’t deserve the title,” Luna said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said she asked Ken Buck to leave the Freedom Caucus, accusing him of destroying Rep.’s campaign. Boebert to replace him and ‘paralyze’ him.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) announced he would resign from Congress early, triggering a special election in Colorado
Buck had already announced he would not run for re-election, but said he would leave office before completing his final term.
The announcement triggered a special election in Colorado, in which Republican voters in the district had to choose not only a candidate to serve the remainder of his term, but also a separate candidate to represent the district in the next Congress.
Boebert, R-Colo., viewed Buck’s decision as a way to thwart her campaign to replace him, since she would have to resign her own seat in the Third District to run in the special election.
“Ken Buck’s announcement yesterday was a gift to the Uniparty,” Boebert said after Buck announced his decision. “The establishment has concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to win elections.”
Luna also criticized Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., for his surprise decision last week to resign, delaying his departure from Congress that would prevent a special election to fill his seat.
She joined members of her party in calling on Gallagher to resign immediately so that a special election could be held to replace him, rather than leaving the seat vacant until the next Congress.
“We hope he does the right thing and steps down early,” she said.
Bartiromo said Gallagher would reportedly take a job at the Palantir company after leaving Congress.
Rep. Luna called on Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) to resign early rather than leave his seat empty
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson faces a shrinking majority and a motion to vacate the seat filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
Luna’s revelations detail the ongoing drama between established Republican political figures and new MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives, as the Republican Party clings to their slim majority to maintain control of the Chamber.
The loss of Gallagher and Buck leaves Republicans in the House of Representatives with only a one-vote majority over Democrats.
Luna said it was “very disturbing” to see establishment Republicans choosing their own path instead of doing the right thing to strengthen the Republican majority.
“If we lose this majority, if we have people who are just doing this for themselves rather than for service, then we’re going to be in pretty bad shape,” she said.
Luna said she hoped the motion to vacate the seat, filed by Assemblywoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., would not be called for a vote in the House of Representatives. She urged Speaker Mike Johnson to stop making deals with Democrats.
“I would also like to appeal to our Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson to find his inner MAGA power and stop what he’s doing… he can absolutely stop this madness.