Topline

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who is set to become the first openly transgender member of Congress, won’t be allowed to use women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., enacted a new rule after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led a push for the ban that she said was “absolutely” targeted at McBride.

Key Facts

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Crucial Quote

“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,” McBride said Monday.

Key Background

McBride, 34, was earlier this month elected to represent Delaware's at-large congressional district. She earned 57.9% of votes to defeat Republican challenger John Whalen III, and will succeed Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester, who won election to the Senate. McBride has served in the Delaware State Senate since 2021 and previously served as press secretary of the pro-LGBTQ activist group Human Rights Campaign. McBride came out publicly as transgender in 2011 in an editorial in the student newspaper while at American University in Washington, D.C. She started an internship at the White House months later and was the first openly transgender woman to work in the White House in any role. She published a book, titled "Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality" in 2018. President Joe Biden wrote the foreword.

Who Is Rep. Nancy Mace?

Mace, 46, was elected to represent South Carolina in the House in 2020. She stood against many of her Republican colleagues and did not support challenges to the 2020 election results. She also criticized then-President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, pushing Trump to endorse her opponent in the 2022 House election (Mace won anyway). Mace voted against impeaching Trump and later endorsed him in the 2024 presidential primary over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, pushing Politico to call her one of Trump's "unlikeliest top defenders."

Tangent

A law requiring all students to use bathrooms that match their biological sex at birth went into effect in July in Mace's home state of South Carolina. Last week, an anonymous transgender middle school student sued the state in federal court after he said he felt he had no choice but to switch to an online schooling program to avoid having to use the girls bathroom or a private nurse's bathroom.

Further Reading

NBC NewsNancy Mace defends anti-trans bathroom bill, says it 'absolutely' targets Sarah McBrideABC NewsRep. Nancy Mace says Capitol restroom bill targeted at 1st transgender member of CongressForbesSarah McBride Talks About Having ‘A Seat At The Table’ As The First Trans State Senator In U.S. History