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The Daily Beast

Mike Johnson Quietly Implements Nancy Mace’s House Bathroom Ban

Julia Ornedo
2 min read
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace share a laugh on the third day of the Republican National Convention last July.
Leon Neal / Getty Images
(Leon Neal)

Speaker Mike Johnson quietly gave Rep. Nancy Mace a victory in her quest to ban transgender women from using the ladies' bathrooms on Capitol Hill.

In the Congressional Record published on Jan. 3, Johnson officially implemented a policy stating that “all single-sex facilities—such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”

The policy was not included in the GOP’s House rules package released last week, but it appears that Johnson made good on his promise to implement the South Carolina Republican’s controversial resolution after all.

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Mace last year admitted that her proposal to ban transgender women from female restrooms “absolutely” targeted Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of the House.

At the time, McBride refused to engage, saying she would follow the rules outlined by Johnson.

“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” she said in a statement. “I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”

The new policy won’t just affect McBride, though, as it applies to any trans person on Capitol Hill—including staffers, visitors and members of the press.

“It is important to note,” the passage in the Congressional Record reads, “that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”

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Johnson previously said the bathroom ban was always an “unwritten policy” after he faced pressure on the issue.

“Leftists and lamestream media had a hissy fit last week when protecting women’s bathrooms wasn’t in the House Rules package,” Mace wrote in a post on X, accompanied by an AI-generated photo of her wearing a suit of armor. “No dumba--es, it wasn’t included because it’s already in the Speaker’s policies for the House.”

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