WASHINGTON — South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who has persistently made opposition to transgender people central to her politics in recent months, repeatedly used a slur referring to transgender people in a House hearing on Wednesday. 

What You Need To Know

  • South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who has persistently made opposition to transgender people central to her politics in recent months, repeatedly used a slur referring to transgender people in a House hearing on Wednesday
  • Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly — the committee’s top Democrat — initiated a “parliamentary inquiry” to ask whether the use of the slur was “a violation of the decorum rule,” referring to Mace as “the gentlelady”
  • Mace interrupted the Virginia lawmaker, using the slur three more times
  • Mace has increasingly sought to make transgender people, specifically women, a target in recent months and ingratiate herself with right-wing voters as she considers a run for governor in 2026 and seeks President Donald Trump’s endorsement
  • As recently as 2023, Mace said she was “pro-transgender rights” and “pro-LGBTQ”

Mace used the slur during a House Oversight Committee hearing on “rightsizing government” that featured witnesses testifying on what Republicans describe as government “waste.” Referencing the growing controversy over the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk and his aides within the Department of Government Efficiency, Mace questioned Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on a series grants USAID has given in recent years to groups abroad to promote LGBTQ rights.

“USAID awarded $2 million to strengthen trans-led organizations to deliver gender affirming health care in Guatemala,” Mace said, referring to a grant issued by USAID last year to a Guatemalan organization that fights for “equality, dignity and participation” for LGTBQ people.

“Does this advance the interests of American citizens paying for trannies in Guatemala to the tune of $2 million. Yes or no, governor?” Mace asked.

Reynolds responded “no.” After Mace’s five minutes were up, Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly — the committee’s top Democrat — initiated a “parliamentary inquiry” to ask whether the use of the slur was “a violation of the decorum rule,” referring to Mace as “the gentlelady.”

“The gentlelady has used a phrase that is considered a slur in the LGBTQ community and the transgender community,” Connolly said, later adding “We can have debate and policy discussion without offending human beings who are fellow citizens.”

Mace interrupted the Virginia lawmaker, using the slur three more times.

“I don't really care. You want penises in women's bathrooms, and I'm not going to have it. No, thank you,” Mace said. 

The committee chair, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, said he would “look into” Connolly’s request, but that he was not “up to date on my politically correct LGBTQ terminology.” Mace would go on to post about the spat dozens of times on social media in the hours that followed on Wednesday and proudly continued using the slur in an interview with the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday evening.

Connolly, whose attempt earlier in the hearing to subpoena Musk went nowhere with the Republican-controlled panel, has drawn scrutiny in his key position as the senior Democrat on the Oversight Committee after beating out New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the role despite his age of 74 and recent cancer diagnosis. 

Mace has increasingly sought to make transgender people, specifically women, a target in recent months and ingratiate herself with right-wing voters as she considers a run for governor in 2026 and seeks President Donald Trump’s endorsement. As recently as 2023, she said she was “pro-transgender rights” and “pro-LGBTQ.”

In November, ahead of the first openly transgender House member in U.S. history — Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride, a Democrat — taking office, Mace proposed the House Republican majority bar transgender women from using women’s bathrooms on Capitol Hill. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., heeded her call and instituted the ban. 

Since then, Mace has repeatedly used slurs in her anti-trans activism, berating transgender activists with a bullhorn and using it on social media. Last month, her and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert accosted a cisgender — someone whose gender identity "corresponds with the sex the person was identified as having at birth," per Merriam-Webster — woman in a Capitol bathroom after mistaking her for McBride.

Mace’s comments came as the Trump administration has sought to eradicate federal acknowledgement of transgender identity and rollback LGBTQ civil rights protections in the weeks since Trump took office. Trump, who campaigned heavily against policies protecting transgender people from discrimination and has sought to bar access to gender transition treatments, signed an executive order on Wednesday that seeks to end transgender athletes' ability to participate in women’s sports.

“Nancy Mace. She’s something,” Trump said at a White House event celebrating the order, praising Mace. “Are you a believer in what we’re doing, Nancy? Nancy takes it on right from the start.”