Five House Democrats handed Republicans a victory Tuesday night, joining the GOP to pass Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-SC-01) amendment barring male students from competing in female sports at schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
The House adopted the amendment to the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act in a 221-203 vote. Every Republican who voted supported it, along with Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA-03) who caucuses with Republicans.
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The five Democrats were Reps. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Don Davis (NC-01), Shomari Figures AL-02), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), and Terri Sewell (AL-07). All 203 votes against the amendment came from Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and the rest of the party’s leadership team.
The proposal directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure that no school overseen by the DoDEA allows a male student to participate in an athletic program designated for females. It defines male and female according to their respective reproductive systems.
Male students could still train or practice with a female team, but only if no female athlete loses a roster spot, an opportunity to participate in a practice or competition, or another benefit connected to the program.
Mace argued on the House floor that military families should not have to fight this battle inside their children's schools.
Men are not women. Men will never become women.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) July 22, 2026
Yet male athletes are stealing medals, invading locker rooms, and putting girls in the hospital, all in the name of gender ideology. Our NDAA amendment would end this nonsense. It would ban biological males from competing against… pic.twitter.com/7rvFAWDJsR
“Women and girls have fought for so long to have equal opportunities in education and athletics. As the first female graduate of The Citadel's Corps of Cadets, no one understands this more than I do. Unfortunately, these rights are now under attack. Over 900 medals have been stolen from women and girls by biological males. This flies in the face of common sense and our most basic notions of fairness and women's rights.”
She accused lawmakers of ignoring the physical differences between men and women, pointing to cases in which female athletes were injured while competing against transgender athletes.
“DoDEA schools serve the children of our warfighters, and they should not have to worry about their little girls having their private spaces invaded, having their accomplishments and opportunities stolen from them, and being injured competing against men.”
The sports vote was Mace's second win of the night. Earlier on Tuesday, the House voted 219-208 to approve her amendment barring TRICARE, the military's health insurance program, from covering certain gender-transitioning procedures and treatments. That vote may prove the more consequential of the two: TRICARE covers roughly 9.5 million beneficiaries, and Democrats have long defended its coverage of such procedures as medically necessary care. The same five Democrats crossed the aisle on that amendment as well.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the rest of Democratic leadership voted against both amendments. Jeffries has previously argued that banning transgender athletes from girls' sports would "unleash horrific child predators on girls and young women,” a line that drew backlash even from within his own party.
The votes came shortly after the House rejected Rep. Lauren Boebert's amendment, which would have codified President Donald Trump's policy requiring military personnel to serve according to their biological sex. That amendment failed 212-217 after Republican Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania defected.
Mace found the votes Boebert's proposal could not. The Senate is the next test, and the harder one. Democrats have used the chamber's 60-vote threshold in past years to strip anti-transgender provisions from the NDAA before final passage. Whether they can do so again, with five members of their own caucus now on record voting the other way, is the fight that comes next.
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