EXCLUSIVE: Rep Anna Paulina Luna on motherhood, repealing the Patriot Act, and cat fights in Congress

Luna spoke openly about the pressures young women face today. “There for a while was a big hookup culture,” she said, adding that it has “eroded what it means to have actually a fulfilling life and relationship.” Luna urged young women not to wait to start a family, saying, “Kids are awesome. And honestly, I wish I would have had him a lot younger.”

“Congress does not offer free daycare, much to what people think,” she said. “So, I bring him with me wherever I’m at.” She described her son as “very social,” joking that while most kids learn to high five, “he starts shaking hands.” She also brought him to the White House and into meetings with world leaders, including the King of Jordan.

“Even though I’m a member of Congress, being his mom has been one of the greatest honors that I’ve ever had,” she said. “Enjoy them while they’re young.”

The conversation also touched on “the craziness” in Congress, where Emmons asked Luna about some spats that have taken place in Congress, including one of which some called a “cat fight” that took place last year in the House Oversight Committee with Reps. Jasmine Crockett, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Luna called it "Oversight After Dark."

"There’s a lot of stuff that people do when the cameras are on. But I wish that people could see the interactions between members of Congress when the cameras are off,” she said. “You’d actually be surprised how much bipartisan work there is.”

One of Luna’s recent initiatives includes a bipartisan effort to repeal the Patriot Act. "I actually, so I recently had something to repeal the Patriot Act because I think that there's a lot of egregious and a lot of liberty violations in that bill that was passed…. So it's really bad. And I think before members of Congress — if you touched that, it was like the sacred cow. Now there's actually been a lot of people, very — a lot of folks on the left that actually co-sponsored the repeal of the Patriot Act. Everyone from Rashid Tlaib to Ilhan Omar. I actually asked Jasmine Crockett because I think that in general, those are the types of things that no one wins when you have a surveillance state.

"And so I just wish people could see those interactions off of camera. But ultimately, as elected officials, we have to remember that what you say does have impact. And so I think the rhetoric right now, you know, calling for violence on ICE and whatnot, that’s not good, they need to turn it down.”

She went onto add when asked if the bill would get passed, “I have bipartisan support for it, but I don’t think that they would ever bring that vote to the floor because of the intelligence community angle control in Congress," she said, adding that she thought that even some in the intelligence community would also support it being repealed.

Watch the full interview below.