Right-wing MAGA firebrand Anna Paulina Luna blasted Senate Majority Leader John Thune for not passing the SAVE America Act, President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority.
The House adjourned on Tuesday this week after a vote to set up debate for the the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon, failed to pass in a 198-224 defeat.
The rule being voted on included a way to tee up the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and that voters show a photo identification when they go to the polls. Trump has so far refused to sign a major bipartisan piece of legislation to make housing more affordable until Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
Luna, a staunch Trump booster from Florida, and other Republicans joined Democrats because they said the rule vote was insufficient. Republicans in the Senate led by Thune have said they have do not have the requisite 60 votes to pass the legislation. But Luna would not have it.
“THUNE is VERY disrespectful,” Luna began.
open image in gallery“Thune is intentionally trying to roll the House. This is why until the SAVE America Act is passed, the House MUST put it on all MUST PASS PIECES OF LEGISLATION.”
Some Republicans have floated passing provisions of the SAVE America Act in budget reconciliation, the process wherein the Senate can sidestep a filibuster as long as the legislation relates to spending and taxes. But Luna said this would not go far enough.
“Reconciliation 3.0 can get some stuff done but it mainly incentivizes. There are procedural hurdles in the Senate. The point is the House MUST utilize all its tools.”
As a result of the failure to pass the rule and the NDAA, a must-pass piece of legislation, Johnson let the House go early for the Independence Day recess. But Luna has remained a perpetual thorn in Johnson’s side.
“We are coming up on America’s 250th birthday, and we have feckless leadership in the Senate refusing to pass the SAVE America Act,” Luna said.
She also criticized the fact that even some of her colleagues in the House had criticized putting the act in the NDAA and accused them of making money off stock trading with confidential information. Luna and a bipartisan coterie of senators are leading the charge on legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stock.
“So yes, 1,000%, the rule will go down until you attach the SAVE America Act,” she said. “I don’t care who in this chamber hates me for it.”
open image in galleryTrump has pushed for the SAVE America Act largely rooted in his lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He has said that Democrats can only win elections if they cheat.
So far, Trump has also said he would not sign a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless Congress passed the SAVE America Act.
Last week, Congress passed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a major bipartisan achievement. Trump was slated to come to Capitol to attend the signing ceremony when he blew it up at the last minute after he said that he would not sign it unless the SAVE America Act passed.
Earlier this week, he clarified his remarks.
“Compared to the Save America Act, just about everything is a big yawn,” he said.