Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has become the latest GOP congresswoman to lash out at House leadership.
In a searing New York Times op-ed, Mace criticized Republican leaders for prioritizing party control over “accountability and achievement,” arguing that rank-and-file lawmakers, including women, have been cast away to the side in passing the GOP’s agenda.
“No one can be held responsible for inaction, so far too little gets done,” Mace wrote Monday afternoon. “The obstacles to achieving almost anything are enough to make any member who came to Washington with noble intentions ask: Why am I even here?”
Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, emphasized that only a small number of lawmakers negotiate major legislation behind closed doors — all while leadership breaks promises in failing to include provisions from House members in bills, which tend to be “loaded with thousands of pages of unrelated policies.”
“Would opening up the floor lead to more conservative bills passing or more bipartisan ones? The honest answer is: It would do both,” Mace wrote, before adding: “What we have now is the worst of all worlds: little accountability, transparency and results.”
Mace also offered rare praise for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), describing her as “a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century.” She went on to warn the GOP of losing the majority in the lower chamber during the 2026 midterms.
“I agree with her on essentially nothing,” Mace wrote. “But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent. When Democrats hold the majority, they ram through the most progressive policies they can. They deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power.”
“Republicans do the opposite,” she continued. “We get the majority, then become petrified of losing it. We pass the most moderate policies we can pressure conservatives to accept, betraying the coalition that delivered us here.”
Mace’s newest critique puts her in line with a growing chorus of public frustration aimed at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) characterized the GOP leader as ineffective, saying he could be booted from his post at any moment in a recent interview published by The Wall Street Journal. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who announced she plans to resign early from Congress following a falling out with President Donald Trump, has accused the House speaker of sidelining House Republicans while maintaining “full obedience” to the White House.
Johnson defended himself against accusations of his standing in the House, telling reporters last week he’s “not worried” about his status “at all,” according to NBC News.
“People get frustrated, people say things and there’s a lot of people trying to stir division and dissension here,” he also told CNN.
Mace herself has generated headlines in recent weeks over an alleged profanity-laced altercation with security officers at Charleston International Airport, posting well over 100 times on social media about the incident.
An internal investigation by the Charleston Airport Police Department found that Mace had lashed out at airport employees in October, leaving them “visibly upset,” The Washington Post reported late Monday.
According to the investigation, which included interviews with TSA staff and police officers, the South Carolina congresswoman told officers “I’m sick of your s—,” labeled them as “f—ing idiots” and “f—ing incompetent” and declared that she is a “f—ing representative.” The initial police incident report claimed the exchanges stemmed from miscommunication involving an escort, which is routinely granted to members of Congress.
