{"id":23473,"date":"2026-06-01T08:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/hard-liners-balk-at-gops-failure-to-enshrine-anti-transgender-laws\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:47:10","slug":"hard-liners-balk-at-gops-failure-to-enshrine-anti-transgender-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/hard-liners-balk-at-gops-failure-to-enshrine-anti-transgender-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard-liners balk at GOP\u2019s failure to enshrine anti-transgender laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GOP hard-liners who promised voters they\u2019d use their new majority in Washington to enact anti-trans legislation are increasingly frustrated their leaders don\u2019t seem to share the same commitment.<\/p>\n

A record number of bills that would roll back access to health care, sports participation and military service for transgender individuals have been introduced over the last year and a half after Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars campaigning on the issue in 2024.<\/p>\n

The party has struggled, however, to get more than a handful to President Donald Trump\u2019s desk, and some Republicans worry the weak showing could deflate red state voters come November as the GOP fights to keep control of Congress.<\/p>\n

These members are now looking toward legislative packages \u2014 like the annual defense policy bill or party-line budget reconciliation bills \u2014 as their last chance to codify restrictions on the trans community this year. But leaders are still not making the issues a priority, they say.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just amazes me that they aren\u2019t listening on this issue, I really don\u2019t understand that,\u201d Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

Hawley has failed to convince leaders to attach a provision in the current immigration enforcement-focused reconciliation bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, which offers gender-affirming care he called \u201crisky\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d for children.<\/p>\n

While he successfully zeroed out Medicaid funding for the health care provider in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act \u2014 one of the few anti-transgender measures Congress has enacted \u2014 that provision will expire in July, upping the pressure to get it reauthorized.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve absolutely been telling [leaders] I want this in the next bill because taxpayer money shouldn\u2019t be funding transgender treatment for minors,\u201d added Hawley, who is now looking ahead to the potential third reconciliation bill the party could advance later this year.<\/p>\n

U.S. medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support gender-affirming care for adolescents.<\/p>\n

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has introduced a bill that would bar funding from entities that allow individuals to use single-sex restrooms or locker rooms that don\u2019t match their sex assigned at birth. Asked why that measure hasn\u2019t moved through the House, Mace said in an interview, \u201cIt\u2019s a great question for the speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s office noted that besides last year\u2019s health care funding limitation, measures blocking trans women from joining women\u2019s sports teams at military universities and cutting some diversity, equity and inclusion program initiatives have also successfully been enacted as part of the latest defense authorization bill.<\/p>\n

And three GOP bills have passed the House this Congress, including former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene\u2019s (R-Ga.) bill to establish criminal penalties for performing or providing gender-affirming care to minors.<\/p>\n

A person familiar with Senate Majority Leader John Thune\u2019s thinking, granted anonymity to speak candidly, disputed the claim that he doesn\u2019t share the same urgency for anti-trans action as ultraconservatives, pointing to the South Dakota Republican\u2019s moves to bring related GOP measures to the floor and attributing their failure to a lack of bipartisan support necessary to clear 60-vote procedural hurdles.<\/p>\n

That roadblock has been the source of growing calls from frustrated conservatives for Thune to push through a Senate rules change to allow more bills to pass by a simple majority \u2014 a drastic action he opposes and says he lacks the votes to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve called on Thune to nuke the filibuster. It has to be done,\u201d said Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.). \u201cThere\u2019s no other way conservative legislation like this passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steube introduced a bill, which passed the House last January, that would prohibit schools receiving federal funding from allowing trans girls to play on female sports teams. Senate Democrats have four times defeated a similar measure introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), most recently as an amendment to a stalled partisan elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point it does get frustrating that we\u2019re not doing every single thing we can get done,\u201d Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) recently complained. \u201cAnd until somebody picks this up and says \u2018I am going to be a true advocate,\u2019 then we have no way of pushing it any further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens co-sponsored a measure that passed the House before the recent weeklong recess that would strip federal funds from public schools that alter a student\u2019s name or pronouns in their records without parental permission.<\/p>\n

Conservative Republicans started 2025 eager to capitalize on an issue that, in the lead-up to the 2024 election, appeared to galvanize voters<\/u><\/a>. House and Senate Republicans and their affiliated campaign arms unleashed over $110 million in ads on issues such as rejecting gender-affirming care for minors and banning transgender women from participating in women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports, according to AdImpact data.<\/p>\n

Trump, in the closing days of his presidential campaign, spent more on ads criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting rights for transgender people than on any other subject<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

House and Senate Republicans sought to ride the perceived wave of public opinion by introducing record levels of legislation they say are designed to protect the rights of women and girls and shield taxpayers from paying for gender-affirming care they call harmful and exploitative of minors.<\/p>\n

Gallup polling before<\/u><\/a> and after<\/u><\/a> the election found that 69 percent of U.S. adults believe that transgender athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that match their birth sex. Still, advocates counter that 85 percent of Americans<\/u><\/a> surveyed believe transgender people should have the same rights as everyone else, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights group.<\/p>\n

More than 125 anti-transgender measures were introduced in 2026 alone \u2014 up from 109 in 2025 and 88 in 2024, according to counts from Trans Legislation Tracker<\/u><\/a>, a research organization monitoring state and national bills that impact trans and gender-diverse people across the country.<\/p>\n

But few of Congress’ legislative efforts have crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n

Republicans have been foiled by mobilization from Democrats, who largely argue such restrictions amount to gender discrimination that contributes to serious considerations of suicide among two thirds of transgender youth.<\/u><\/a> Democrats were also able to strip more than 40 \u201canti-LBGTQ+ riders\u201d from annual government funding bills for the current fiscal year, according to the nearly-200 member Congressional Equality Caucus.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time an anti-LGBTQI+ bill or amendment comes to the floor, members of the Congressional Equality Caucus organize a response and whip as hard as we can against them,\u201d Caucus Chair Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, despite the GOP\u2019s lack of progress in Congress, White House executive actions and GOP-controlled legislatures have enacted a soaring number of anti-trans policies.<\/p>\n

Trump, within the first days of his second administration, signed executive orders to: declare the government would only recognize two sexes<\/u><\/a>, male and female; withhold federal funding<\/u><\/a> for institutions that deliver gender-affirming care to minors; and ban transgender people<\/u><\/a> from the military, among other efforts.<\/p>\n

Before Trump started his second term, transgender women had been allowed to compete in women\u2019s categories in the Olympics since 2003 and the NCAA since 2010.<\/p>\n

At least 50 anti-trans bills have passed this year alone in red states like Florida, Tennessee, Utah, Kansas and Idaho. And states overall have passed more than 350 anti-trans bills<\/u><\/a> since 2021.<\/p>\n

The real-world impact of these efforts has jeopardized the mental and physical wellbeing of transgender individuals, many of whom have also faced violent threats as the issue becomes more deeply politicized, advocates say.<\/p>\n

And since most major U.S. medical organizations say gender-affirming care is well-tested, safe<\/u><\/a> and can be medically necessary, many parents of transgender minors have been forced to make a difficult choice: watch their child grapple with what can be extreme distress or move their families to less restrictive states or outside of the U.S to continue care that has been blocked or restricted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a mistake to measure the threat to transgender Americans solely by what has or hasn\u2019t passed Congress,\u201d said David Stacy, vice president of government affairs at the Human Rights Campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has used executive overreach to dismantle hard-won protections, and state legislatures across the country are moving in lockstep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back on Capitol Hill, Republicans insist that codifying some of these policies nationwide is important, while conceding the reality of doing so before November is unlikely.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, it\u2019s absurd that we allow men in women’s sports in our society when I think the vast majority of Americans don\u2019t support it either,\u201d said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis). \u201cBut are we going to get something done this legislative session? Time\u2019s running out, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Republicans have already packed at least 18 anti-LGBTQ+ policy riders in partisan versions of fiscal 2027 appropriations bills that Democrats are eyeing for removal, according to the Congressional Equality Caucus, and some GOP lawmakers aren\u2019t interested in the risks involved in fighting for the survival of these partisan provisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could just run out of runway,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said in an interview. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got to prioritize. If I\u2019ve got a choice between some of those [trans] issues and getting the NDAA and farm bill out, then I\u2019ve got to favor NDAA and farm bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GOP hard-liners who promised voters they\u2019d use their new majority in Washington to enact anti-trans legislation are increasingly frustrated their leaders don\u2019t seem to share the same commitment. A record number of bills that would roll back access to health care, sports participation and military service for transgender individuals have been introduced over the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}