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Anna Paulina Luna breaks up with Freedom Caucus, takes heated spat public

April 1, 2025 | | Print Article

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has resigned from the House Freedom Caucus because of a dispute involving a resolution that she wanted passed.

Written by Rep. Brittany Pettersen, the resolution would have allowed members of Congress who just had a kid to vote on bills and legislation remotely instead of having to come to the Capitol.

After Luna executed a discharge petition to push the resolution onto the House floor despite opposition from leadership, her former colleagues in the Freedom Caucus then reportedly pressured House Speaker Mike Johnson into rejecting it.

Luna explained all this in a resignation letter she published Monday.

“[A] small group among us threatened the Speaker, vowing to halt floor proceedings indefinitely — regardless of the legislation at stake, including President Trump’s agenda — unless he altered the rules to block my discharge petition,” Luna wrote.

This, the congresswoman continued, was unacceptable.

“For several years, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with you, from the speaker’s fight — where I was one of only 20 — to numerous efforts aimed at bringing the institutional change Washington so desperately needs,” she explained. “My goal has always been to work alongside like-minded individuals committed to fighting for the American people and delivering on the promises President Trump campaigned on.”

“I have consistently supported each of you, even in moments of disagreement, honoring the mutual respect that has guided the caucus. That respect, however, was shattered last week,” she added.

Luna went on to accuse her former House Freedom Caucus colleagues of smearing both her and Pettersen’s legislation.

“The intent was clear: to misrepresent me and the members supporting this pro-life, pro-family initiative—one of the most significant in congressional history—as obstructing the President and opposing election integrity,” she wrote.

“This tactic was not just a betrayal of trust; it was a descent into the very behavior we have long condemned—a practice that we, as a group, have repeatedly criticized leadership for allowing. To those involved, I ask: Why? Why abandon the principles we’ve championed and resort to such conduct?” she continued.

Luna concluded her letter by praising House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris for his “gentlemanly”  behavior but slamming everybody else.

“I cannot remain part of a caucus where a select few operate outside its guidelines, misuse its name, broker backroom deals that undermine its core values and where the lines of compromise and transaction are blurred, disparage me to the press, and encourage misrepresentation of me to the American people,” she wrote.

Speaking with Manu Raju of CNN late Monday evening, Luna accused her former colleagues of holding Johnson hostage to their agenda.

“The speaker is being held hostage,” she said. “You had members — a small group of the Freedom Caucus, not all of them but a small group — that threatened to shut down the House floor regardless of what agenda was being placed, whether it was the president’s or not, and that’s not right.”

“There are some great people that are still members of the Freedom Caucus, but there’s a small faction that’s disingenuous and I’m not going to play that game,” she added.

Among those in the Freedom Caucus who oppose remote voting — also known as proxy voting — is Rep. Chip Roy.

Here’s what he tweeted about it:

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