GOP Rep. Nancy Mace called the NDAA abortion measure an 'asshole move' — then voted for it anyway

• GOP Rep. Nancy Mace said an NDAA amendment rolling back abortion protections for military service members was an "asshole move."
• Nevertheless, she voted 'yea' on it, and it — along with the defense spending bill — narrowly passed in the House
• Mace has been outspoken against the GOP's push to restrict abortion access in the US and how its hurting Republicans in the polls.

Republicans in the House of Representatives — along with Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar — voted to ban military service members from being able to reimburse abortion-related travel and expenses, rankling GOP Rep. Nancy Mace.

"We should not be taking this fucking vote, man," Mace was overheard saying by a reporter with Politico. "Fuck. It's an asshole move, an asshole amendment."

The vote occurred on Thursday evening, as the House gathered to vote on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets the spending and policy limits for the Pentagon. While Republicans also voted on amendments to eliminate DEI programs and gender-affirming care coverage for service members,the most controversial amendment was Rep. Ronny Jackson's related to abortion care services, which now that it's passed in the House, all but guarantees the NDAA won't pass the Senate.

And while Mace said she's up to discuss these social debates at any point, she told Politico she was worried about how "partisan" this year's defense spending bill will be.

"I'm all for having these conversations and debates, but doing so as part of a bill which could jeopardize our national security is wrong," Mace said. "Traditionally the NDAA is bipartisan legislation. This year's bill could be historically partisan."

In spite of her frustrations with how the GOP handled the divisive defense spending bill — which passed in the House in a near-party line vote — Mace voted 'yea' to each of the amendments rolling back military abortion protections and gender-affirming healthcare for service members.

Mace's frustrated comments on Thursday regarding the abortion amendment were not the first time she's been outspoken about the GOP's handling of abortion rights in the US.

In April, two days after the Supreme Court's decision to pause a federal judge in Texas' ruling that restricted access to an abortion medication, Mace said on ABC's "This Week" that she's directly seen how motivated Democratic voters have become since the high overturned the country's federal abortion protections in 2022.

"I saw what happened after Roe v. Wade because I represent a very purple district, as purple as this dress, and I saw the sentiment change dramatically," Mace said. "And as Republicans, we need to read the room on this issue."

And on Fox News, also in April, she said that the GOP has not learned its lesson since the midterm elections, where Republicans were poised to take control of the House and Senate, only to take control of the House by the narrowest of margins. In election postmortems, many have speculated the Supreme Court's decision to gut abortion protections directly boosted Democratic turnout.

"We have not learned our lesson from the midterm election," Mace said. "We went mildly pro-choice to being a vast majority of voters being pro-choice after Roe v. Wade. It changed the entire electoral environment in '22.'"