Rep. Nancy Mace wants congressional Republicans to be more like their longtime Democratic bogeyman.
Mace went scorched earth on GOP leadership in an essay for The New York Times, writing that Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi “was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century.”
Those are shocking words coming from Mace, 48, who concedes that—aside from both wanting the Epstein files released—she and the 85-year-old San Francisco Democrat agree on “essentially nothing.”
However, Mace, of South Carolina, says she applauds Pelosi’s ruthlessness and ability to deliver for her progressive voters—something House Speaker Mike Johnson has been unable to replicate for conservatives.
“She understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent,” Mace wrote. “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.”
Mace continued, “Republicans do the opposite. 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. Pelosi was ruthless, but she got things done.”
Representatives for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Reached by email, a spokesman for Pelosi referred the Daily Beast to a post in which he shared Mace’s praise about Pelosi’s leadership tenure and wrote, “Many people are saying!”
Mace threw Johnson a bone of sorts. She wrote that the sitting House speaker is “better than his predecessor,” Kevin McCarthy, whom she personally plotted to have removed from his leadership role.
The congresswoman’s rage was not just at Johnson, however. She also suggested that sexism runs rampant in GOP politics, which includes the party designating what she described as a “token slot” for women—the chair of the Republican conference, which has indeed been occupied by a woman every year since 2013.
“Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously, and I’m no longer holding my breath,” Mace wrote.
The lawmaker claimed that Republican women are kept from holding the positions that truly matter.
“I’m sure Lisa McClain, the current chair of the House Republican Conference, is a wonderful cook,” Mace wrote, linking to an interview in which Johnson said he would trust McClain, 59, to cook him Thanksgiving dinner. “I’d wager she’s an even better legislator. But we’ll never know, because that’s not the box she’s been assigned.”
Mace never mentioned President Donald Trump by name in her essay.
More than anything, Mace wrote, she fears Republicans will lose their trifecta—controlling the House, Senate, and White House—after next year’s midterms and will have little to show for it.
“If we fail to pass legislation that permanently secures the border, addresses the affordability crisis, improves healthcare, and restores law and order, we will lose this majority,” she wrote. “And we will deserve it.”
She concluded, “We can do better. We can restore regular order, empower members to legislate, and deliver on our promises. 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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