Republican to introduce transgender bathroom ban at the US Capitol

Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, said on Monday that she will be introducing a measure to ban transgender women from using biological women's restrooms at the U.S. Capitol.

Her announcement comes as Rep.-elect Sarah McBride prepares to take office as the first transgender person elected to Congress.

The resolution, which is expected to be filed Monday night, would amend the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives in order to prohibit members, officers and employees from using facilities that are currently designated for the opposite biological sex.

"The sanctity of protecting women and standing up against the Left's systematic erasure of biological women starts here in the nation's Capitol," Mace wrote in a statement.

"We are standing up for women, protecting their spaces, and restoring a bit of sanity to Capitol Hill," the statement continued.

Referencing the controversial acronym for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, Mace also wrote, "The Left screams TERF politics, we call it putting women first."

McBride responded to the statement in a post on X, which said, "This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing."

She noted the examples of housing, health care and child care as issues more important than "culture wars."

McBride also implored kindness, posting: "Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness."

Mace's statement, and the bill that is expected to follow, is the latest chapter in the long fight over women's restrooms in the Capitol.

The Women's Reading Room in Stat Hall is now named for former Rep. Lindy Boggs (the mother of ABC legend Cokie Roberts) and was a longtime private area for women.

And in 2011, Speaker John Boehner directed the Architect of the Capitol to build a women's room off the House floor - in an old office that used to be for the Parliamentarian.

If Mace's measure were passed, its management would fall under the jurisdiction of the sergeant at arms, which is the chief law enforcement officer at the House of Representatives.