The culture wars arrive to Capitol Hill
The target is the first openly transgender member elected to Congress. But she and her colleagues want to focus on the threat they say the GOP’s economic agenda poses to everyday Americans.
First Things First
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. Programming note: I’m taking off next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. OUAH will return on Monday, Dec. 4.
The culture wars have arrived on Capitol Hill and they were started by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), a member with perhaps the most severe case of Main Character Syndrome in the entire Congress.
In case you missed it: Mace, the first woman to graduate from the Citadel Military College of South Carolina and who was just reelected to a third term in the House, introduced a resolution on Monday to ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms in the US Capitol. The resolution is viewed as a thinly veiled attack on Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), who was elected as the first openly transgender member of Congress earlier this month.
Mace is demanding her resolution be considered as part of the House rules package for the upcoming Congress. While Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stopped short of fulfilling Mace’s request—and has tripped over himself all week in an attempt to enable the transphobia that’s become a hallmark of the MAGA right and a hollow promise to treat all members with dignity—he did announce on Wednesday that transgender people would be banned from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity in the Capitol and House Office Buildings.
“It is important to note that each member office has its own private restroom and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol,” Johnson said in a statement. “Women deserve women’s only spaces.”
In theory, the sergeant-at-arms would be responsible for enforcing the ban. In practice, it’s unclear how this could be done without violating women and girls and reinforcing strict gender norms.
Enforcement really isn’t the point though. Mace has tweeted about the issue hundreds of times since she announced the resolution, often with defiance and intellectual dishonesty. Of course, she’s fundraising off the manufactured controversy because that’s what members of Congress do when they’ve generated a sensational news cycle. And she introduced a bill on Wednesday to extend her ban on transgender women using women’s bathrooms from the US Capitol to all federal buildings across the country. It’s worth noting the bill introduction and Johnson’s ban came on Trans Day of Remembrance, an annual observance to memorialize those who have been murdered due to transphobia.
McBride has handled the manufactured controversy with savvy political instincts and the poise of someone who’s used to navigating attacks on her identity while performing the work her constituents elected her to do. (She was a state legislator before her election to Congress.)
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families,” she said in a statement. “Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”
Another reason why McBride has been able to take the high road is because House Democrats have forcefully defended her against the attacks.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who has a transgender daughter, led 92 House Democrats in a resolution commemorating TDOR and called Mace’s resolution hateful, dangerous and unnecessary.
“Trans people represent one half of one percent of Americans,” Jayapal said. “Mind your own damn business and let them be.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, called Johnson’s ban a holier-than-thou rule that endangers not just McBride, but other staff, interns and visitors to the US Capitol.
“This policy isn’t going to protect anyone—but it is going to open the door to rampant abuse, harassment and discrimination in the Capitol.”
Pocan added that he has requested a meeting with Johnson to discuss the policy.
Another member said that their LGBTQ friends and family helped them recognize the value of inclusivity and allyship.
“Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important. Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime.”
That member was Nancy Mace in 2021…
You can draw a direct line to Mace’s resolution from an anti-trans attack ad the Trump campaign and numerous conservative political groups ran in the weeks leading up to Election Day that pilloried Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting gender-affirming care for incarcerated trans people—including surgery when medically necessary—and athletes participating in sports that align with their gender identity.
“Kamala is for they/them,” the narrator says at the end of each ad. “President Trump is for you.”
Trump allies argue the ad was less about trans people and designed to draw attention to Harris’s misplaced priorities. But critics called it another instance of Republicans singling out vulnerable communities to stoke fear in Americans who believe immigrants, feminists and trans people are turning their way of life upside down.
McBride told reporters earlier this month that she didn’t believe voters in her state, who live in Philadelphia’s media market, which was inundated with the ads, were responding to them.
“What I was hearing from folks is the need to build an economy that works for everyone. What I was hearing was that the American Dream is increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible,” she said. “What I was hearing was that we need to guarantee affordable health care, housing and child care for every person in this state and in this country. That's what I was hearing. That's what I was campaigning on. I didn't run on my identity, but my identity was not a secret.
McBride and top House Democrats argue the point of the ads—and, to a broader extent, the Mace resolution and bill—is to distract from the policy decay within the Republican Party.
“I think we have to be crystal clear as we move forward!that we are going to call out the hypocrisy of Donald Trump, of disingenuously claiming that he is a fighter for working people when his agenda is pro-higher-costs and pro-inflation,” McBride said. “That’s what we will get with his agenda in this administration. And that’s why I think all of us are united and serving as that check on his administration and continuing to point out to people that he is not working on behalf of the diverse working class in this country.”
Pocan agreed Republicans are so ineffective at the nuts and bolts of governing that stoking the culture wars is their most effective strategy for winning elections.
“Republicans can’t even pass a farm bill or pass major appropriations bills, so they turn to using the cruel attacks to distract from their inability to govern and failure to deliver for the American people.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) ultimately believes Americans want their elected officials focused on the economy and the affordability crisis.
“What are [Republicans] talking about on day one is where one member out of 435 is going to use the bathroom. That is their focus? So this is not a great start for how we start to turn the focus to the American people,” she said. “It is where the House Democratic Caucus lives. This is our purpose. We understand that we are the closest connection to the people and that is exactly where our work is going to be.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told me on Tuesday morning that he had no plans to discuss Mace’s resolution with Speaker Johnson. He gave a similar answer when a reporter asked again later that afternoon. But he questioned the wisdom of his colleagues across the aisle whom he characterized as bullies who should instead be welcoming McBride to the institution with open arms.
“I think it causes you to have to ask the question: What was all the rhetoric about over the last several months on the campaign trail? Did you lie to the American people? Are you really focused on solving problems for the American people? Are you really focused on lowering costs, addressing the high cost of living? Are you really focused on housing prices? Apparently not. Are you really focused on grocery prices? Apparently not. Are you focused as Republicans on building a healthy economy? Apparently you are not,” Jeffries said. “And we will not hesitate to call that out every time they lean into their far right extremism and ignore the things that the American people want us as members of Congress to focus on together.”
Happenings
The House will meet at 9 a.m. and vote at 10:30 a.m. on a bill to prevent the IRS from imposing fines and tax penalties on Americans held hostage upon their return and a resolution urging Ukraine’s government to reconsider its decision to suspend adoptions by US citizens.
The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. and vote at 11 a.m. to limit debate on the nominations of Noel Wise to be US District Judge for the Northern District of California and Gail Weilheimer to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Senate will vote at 1:45 p.m. to confirm Sharad Desai to be US District Judge for the District of Arizona.
President Biden will sign the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act of 2024 this morning before receiving his daily intelligence briefing in the afternoon. Then, he will welcome the Boston Celtics to the White House to celebrate their 2024 NBA championship.
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Kalaoa, HI, with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and has no public events on her schedule.
Do you have questions about the lame-duck session or the incoming Trump presidency? Drop me a line at michael@onceuponahill.com or send me a message below to get in touch and I’ll report back with answers.
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