Republican lawmakers are pressing party leaders to move long-promised transgender policy measures after several standalone bills failed to reach President Donald Trump’s desk.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Republican lawmakers who campaigned on limiting transgender-related policies in schools, sports, health care and public facilities are voicing frustration that major standalone bills on the issue have not become law, despite GOP control in Washington and repeated promises to act before the midterm elections.
A Daily Caller News Foundation report detailed growing dissatisfaction among Republicans who say congressional leaders have not moved quickly enough on legislation that reflects the party’s 2024 campaign platform. The debate comes after lawmakers introduced 127 transgender-related bills in 2026, including measures tied to women’s sports, parental rights and medical procedures for minors, according to Trans Legislation Tracker.
The 2024 Republican Party platform pledged to “keep men out of women’s sports,” bar taxpayer funding for sex changes and prevent schools from promoting transgenderism or gender transitions. While several Republican-backed proposals have advanced in the House or appeared as provisions in larger legislative packages, lawmakers pushing the issue say the party has not yet converted its campaign commitments into durable federal law.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., has been among the most vocal critics. Steube introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in the House, where it passed Jan. 14, 2025. The measure has not cleared the Senate.
“Senate Republicans keep talking about protecting women and girls, but under Leader Thune, commonsense bills like my legislation to keep biological men out of women’s sports are stalled,” Steube told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The American people gave Republicans a mandate to act, not let Senate Democrats and a handful of Republican holdouts dictate what can and cannot pass. If Leader Thune is serious about delivering on our promises, he should be willing to end the filibuster and get these bills to the President’s desk.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has also criticized House leadership over the lack of action on her Stop the Invasion of Women’s Spaces Act, which would restrict federal funding for public places that allow trans-identifying individuals to use single-sex bathrooms or locker rooms that do not correspond with biological sex.
“Our legislation to cut off federal funding to any agency allowing men into women’s bathrooms has not received a floor vote. This is exactly what happens: bills get introduced, then go dark. Leadership controls what comes to the floor and these bills are not making the cut,” Mace told the DCNF. “Keeping mentally ill men out of women’s spaces is common sense. There is no good reason this bill is not law yet. This should not be a hard vote.”
Mace has made the issue a central part of her public agenda. In November 2024, she introduced a resolution requiring individuals in the Capitol complex to use bathrooms corresponding with their biological sex. The proposal came as Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a trans-identifying male, was preparing to be sworn in. During Mace’s gubernatorial campaign, she also pledged to withhold public funding from schools that allow men to compete in women’s sports or use pronouns such as “they/them.”
Speaker Mike Johnson’s office pointed to several transgender-related bills that House Republicans have passed this session, including the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, which passed the House on May 20. The House also passed the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, introduced by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Republicans have also included some transgender-related restrictions in larger legislation. The fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision banning transgender therapy for minor dependents through TRICARE. The Working Families Tax Cuts package barred Medicaid funding for transgender surgeries.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Republican leaders are failing to respond to voter concerns.
“It just amazes me that they aren’t listening on this issue, I really don’t understand that,” Hawley said, according to Politico.
Hawley also said Monday that taxpayer funds should not be used for surgeries for minors.
Hawley sponsored the Prohibiting Abortion & Transgender Procedures on the Exchanges Act in October 2025. The bill would amend the Affordable Care Act to prevent health plans offered through exchanges from covering transgender-related procedures for minors. He also co-sponsored the Senate version of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., to prohibit men from competing against women in sports.
That Senate legislation failed to advance in March 2025 after Democrats voted against it. A lobbying disclosure by the American Civil Liberties Union listed the bill under “LGBTQ Rights,” with opposition efforts involving grassroots mobilization, testimony and congressional contacts. Conservative and women’s groups, including the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee and Alliance Defending Freedom, lobbied in support of the measure.
Hawley’s focus on the issue predates the current Congress. During his 2024 reelection campaign, he released advertisements criticizing his Democratic opponent, Lucas Kunce, over transgender policy positions. The campaign also targeted Kunce for supporting what the ads described as a “radical trans agenda” and “extreme transgender policies.”
Steube and Tuberville similarly introduced legislation in February 2024 that sought to bar men from competing on U.S. Olympic teams ahead of the Summer Games in Paris.
While major standalone bills have stalled, Republicans have moved narrower provisions through broader legislation. In July 2025, the Senate passed a rescissions package that reduced foreign aid spending on LGBT programs, including Democracy Fund expenditures that covered $500,000 for a gender equality and empowerment hub and $3.9 million for strengthening information integrity, equality and democracy for the LGBTQI+ population of the Western Balkans. The package also cut International Disaster Assistance funding that included $2.4 million to make aid more considerate of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Trump has used executive authority to advance parts of the Republican agenda while lawmakers debate whether those policies should be codified. He signed executive orders prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports and declaring that the federal government recognizes two sexes. His administration also banned trans-identifying people from the military and withheld federal funding from institutions that provide gender-related procedures for minors.
Some Republicans want Congress to turn those executive actions into law, but Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has expressed doubt that lawmakers can do so before the midterms, according to Politico.
Trump’s campaign also heavily emphasized transgender policy in the 2024 race. Politico reported in October 2024 that his campaign spent more on ads criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for pro-transgender policies than on any other issue. The advertisements ended with the line, “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”
The administration’s transgender military policy has also faced legal setbacks. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down Trump’s military ban, ruling that the administration intentionally excluded people based on gender identity. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the administration would challenge the ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Polling cited by Republicans shows public support for some restrictions. A New York Times/Ipsos survey from March 14, 2025, found that 79% of Americans, including 67% of Democrats, said men should be barred from competing against women. A Pew Research survey from February 2025 found that 56% of Americans supported bans on medical procedures for minors. A Siena Research Institute survey from April found that 59% of Americans opposed trans-identifying athletes competing against the opposite sex at the high school level, while 58% opposed it at the college level.
With the midterm elections approaching, the dispute has placed pressure on congressional leaders to determine whether transgender-related bills will remain campaign issues, advance as parts of larger packages or receive standalone votes before voters return to the polls.