Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) sounded a stark warning to her party in a recent New York Times op-ed, criticizing House Republican leadership for sidelining ordinary members and overlooking the perspectives of women.
Her remarks arrive at a time when the GOP holds a slim House majority amid growing voter scrutiny.
Mace wrote that she did not come to Washington to play a ceremonial role.
“I came to Congress five years ago believing I could make a difference for my constituents, for South Carolina and for a country I love deeply,” she said. “But I’ve learned that the system in the House promotes control by party leaders over accountability and achievement.”
She added that little gets accomplished because “no one can be held responsible for inaction.”
While Mace acknowledged that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is “better than his predecessor,” former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), whom she voted to oust in 2023, she noted that frustrations among rank-and-file members are growing.
“Certain individuals or groups remain marginalized within the party, getting little say,” she wrote, emphasizing that female Republicans often feel their influence in leadership is symbolic rather than substantive.
“Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously, and I’m no longer holding my breath,” Mace wrote.
She highlighted that since 2013, a woman has held the GOP conference chair position, a role she described as more “token” than truly powerful.
Mace also drew a comparison that many in her party might find uncomfortable.
“Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century,” she wrote.
Though she disagrees with Pelosi “on essentially nothing,” she said the former speaker understood a lesson Republicans appear to overlook: “No majority is permanent.”
She criticized Republicans for failing to act decisively while holding unified control of Congress and the White House.
“Democrats aggressively advance their agenda when they hold power, while Republicans pass the most moderate policies we can pressure conservatives to accept,” she wrote, calling it a betrayal of the coalition that delivered them into office.
Tensions within the Republican conference have spilled into the open, particularly among female lawmakers.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a senior House Republican from New York, recently accused Johnson of blocking her amendment that would notify Congress when the FBI opens counterintelligence probes into federal candidates, labeling him a “political novice,” according to Axios.
Although the provision was later reinstated, the episode revealed a broader sense of mistrust between leadership and rank-and-file members who feel their voices are overlooked.
Adding to the signs of dissent, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) filed a discharge petition on Dec. 2, forcing a vote on legislation banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
By sidestepping GOP leadership, Luna emphasized that elected officials answer first to constituents rather than internal party gatekeepers.
These procedural maneuvers underscore growing impatience with centralized control over the legislative agenda.
They demonstrate that some Republicans are increasingly willing to publicly challenge leadership when they believe critical issues are being obstructed.
Mace’s op-ed, therefore, is not an isolated critique but part of a broader pattern: female Republicans and rank-and-file lawmakers are increasingly willing to break with leadership when they feel marginalized.
For Mace, the problem is structural: power concentrated among a few, limited transparency and minimal input from many.
Her warning is clear—if Republicans continue to marginalize voices inside the conference, voters may punish them for inaction.
She concluded that the GOP can still deliver on its promises—but only if it allows all members to contribute meaningfully.
“We can restore regular order, empower members to legislate and deliver on our promises,” she wrote. “But that will require a fundamental shift, one that prioritizes courage over control. Let us vote. Let the people see. Let the chips fall. That’s democracy.”
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