House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked if incoming representative Sarah McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress, is a man or a woman.
It came as some Republican caucus members move to ban transgender women from using female restrooms on Capitol Hill.
McBride was elected earlier this month and will become the first openly transgender member of Congress in January.
But on Monday, GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from using the female restrooms at the U.S. Capitol.
Mace said she is ‘standing up for women’ but critics slammed it as a direct attack on McBride as she heads to Washington, and also accused Mace of trying to get attention.
During a press conference with House Republican leadership on Tuesday morning, a reporter asked Johnson if McBride is a man or a woman.
‘Um look, I’m not going to get into this,’ Johnson responded. ‘We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people.’
He said he believes it is a ‘command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect’ and claimed they will.
Speaker Mike Johnson was asked during a news conference on November 19 whether freshman Sarah McBride, who is transgender, is a man or woman. He responded that he is ‘not going to get into this’ and all new members are welcomed. He said ‘concern about the uses of restroom facilities’ will be addressed ‘in a deliberate fashion with member consensus’
‘I’m not going to engage in silly debates about this. There’s a concern about the uses of restroom facilities and locker rooms and all that. This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before,’ Johnson went on.
‘We’re going to do that in a deliberate fashion with member consensus on it, and we will accommodate the needs of every single person,’ he added.
He did not say what the plans is to take up Mace’s resolution. But there have been been reports behind closed doors he committed to Mace that he would include the provision in the House rules package.
His remarks were immediately met with pushback from MAGA loyalists and conservatives online. Just hours later, Johnson tried to clarify.
‘Let me be unequivocally clear: a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman,’ he said.
Mace did not shy away when asked if her measure was specifically introduced to target her incoming colleague McBride. She said McBride should be forced to use the men’s room.
‘She was born a biological male, she should use the men’s restroom, that’s how it should work,’ Mace told reporters Monday evening.
Representative-elect Sarah McBride will enter Congress in January as the first transgender member of Congress having been elected to represent Delaware
Rep. Nancy Mace speaking to reporters on November 19 after she introduced a resolution to ban trans women from using the women’s restroom at the U.S. Capitol
However, it is not clear how the resolution would be enforced. When asked about it, Mace did not have a clear answer.
‘Here’s the deal, biological men shouldn’t be in women’s private spaces. Period,’ she said.
Mace’s resolution comes after Republicans including President-elect Trump put attacks on transgender Americans front and center in their messaging leading up to the 2024 election.
McBride slammed the South Carolina congresswoman’s measure Monday night with a post on X.
‘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,’ she wrote.
She called the resolution a ‘blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists 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,’ she wrote. ‘Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.’
McBride, who was first elected as a Delaware state senator, won the blue state by double-digits earlier this year with nearly 58 percent of support.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the Republican effort on Tuesday. He said the small GOP House majority is beginning to transition to the new Congress ‘by bullying a member of Congress.’
‘This is what we’re doing? This is the lesson that you’ve drawn from the election in November?’ he asked.
‘This is your priority that you want to bully a member of Congress as oppose to welcoming her to join this body so that all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?’ Jeffries asked.
He suggested Republicans are not really focused on lowering costs and the housing crisis.
