(NewsNation) — Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said she’s going to “fight like hell” for a resolution that would keep Sarah McBride from using the women’s bathroom.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy and gaslighting to tell women, you lose your rights, and then a man walks in the room. I don’t think so,” Mace said on NewsNation’s “On Balance.” “I’m very socially sensible, but this is about women’s safety. It’s about women’s security, it’s about women’s privacy, and we have rights.”
On Monday, Mace introduced a resolution requiring all individuals in the Capitol complex to use bathrooms matching their sex assigned at birth, a move that has sparked controversy as McBride, the first openly transgender House member, prepares to take office.
The measure charges the House sergeant-at-arms, William McFarland, with enforcing the ban, according to text previewed by The Hill, but it is unclear how the House’s chief law enforcement officer will determine who can and cannot use the Capitol’s facilities.
State laws that bar transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity often rely on anonymous complaints, a notoriously unreliable enforcement mechanism. LGBTQ+ rights activists in May flooded a tip line designed to alert officials in Utah to possible violations of the state’s bathroom ban with thousands of false complaints.
Mace is pushing for the measure to be included in the rules package for the 119th Congress or for it to be brought to the floor and voted on as a standalone rule outside the package.
If the bill, however, is not included in the 119th Congress rules package or brought to the floor as a standalone rule, Mace would force a vote on the legislation, the source said.
The House is set to vote on a rules package for the next Congress in early January, which will require a majority vote for passage. Republicans are poised to have a razor-thin majority when the next session gavels in.
McBride, who is set to assume her new position early next year, said on X that Mace’s resolution is “a blatant attempt” to “distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”
“We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care and child care, not manufacturing culture wars,” McBride said. “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that’s what I’m focused on.”
NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.