'Let's play hardball': MAGA lawmaker turns on Mike Johnson in profane retort
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) escalated her feud with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over his refusal to allow new parents in Congress to vote by proxy, NBC News reported — and she threatened to stall all business in the House until he compromises on the issue.
"The proxy vote bill is authored by Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., who gave birth to a son in January and has brought him to the floor during votes in recent weeks to highlight the need for remote voting, especially for female lawmakers who have recently given birth," said the report. "The bill, co-sponsored by Luna, and Reps. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., would allow proxy voting for new parents up to 12 weeks, as well as before birth if medical issues arise."
However, "in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Johnson discouraged rank-and-file Republicans from supporting Luna’s proxy voting bill," said the report. Johnson allegedly told the GOP, “We want to make it as easy as possible for young parents to be able to participate in the process. But proxy voting, in my view, is unconstitutional” — an argument he has pushed before.
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In response, Luna, a hardline right-wing lawmaker who aligns closely with President Donald Trump, took to X to show receipts that Johnson has, in fact, proxy voted himself, back when it was allowed as a COVID-19 emergency measure.
".@SpeakerJohnson is a kind man and his heart is in the right spot but he’s wrong on proxy voting for new parents," she wrote. "Here are some documents showing him voting by proxy in the 117th Congress, as late as December 2022! He argues it's 'unconstitutional' but has done it several times. Since the case is being made to the public via press, I’m going to do the same."
Luna then told reporters she was potentially prepared to stall all House business until a deal is reached.
“If people want to do that, then, you know, you have a two-seat majority, so good luck passing anything. If they want to play hardball, let’s play f------ hardball.”