Nancy Mace Grills Tim Walz With Bizarre Question During Heated House Hearing

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) hit Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) with a signature strange question during a heated exchange at Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing about alleged welfare fraud in the state.

The spat came after Mace accused Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of “presiding over one of the worst government fraud scandals in American history.” Walz dropped his gubernatorial reelection bid in January amid a federal probe into the alleged fraud, a probe that has targeted the state’s Somali population.

Alleging that Walz and Ellison “both allowed billions in these American taxpayer dollars to be pillaged and plundered by Somali pirates,” Mace set the tone for tension by telling Walz, “I hope you learned some lessons from your last hearing with me on the oversight committee.”

Mace then asked him, “Gov. Walz, what is a woman? Have you learned that lesson? Do you know what a woman is?”

This isn’t the first time the congresswoman has asked this bizarre question in this type of setting. It’s the same one she asked Walz during a June 2025 hearing. She also asked Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser the question in September of last year.

“I’m not sure I understand the question here,” Walz replied at the time. “What do you want me to say?”

Mace responded, “I want you to say that a woman like me is an adult human female. That men can’t become women. You guys are the party of violence, and you’re the party erasing women.”

She added, “You don’t respect us. You’re a bigot. You’re a misogynist. You’re a sexist.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, Walz didn’t hesitate upon hearing Mace’s question, shooting back, “I’m the governor of Minnesota, congresswoman. I’m not here to be your prop for your obsession.”

Mace then argued that if he “can’t define what a woman is,” then he “certainly can’t define what fraud is.”

However, Mace is also under some scrutiny. The House Ethics Committee is currently investigating allegations that she may have improperly claimed more than $9,000 in reimbursements meant to subsidize housing costs for members of Congress.

Mace has denied the allegations and wrote in an X post Monday that she’s not taking the ethics complaint “seriously.”

Watch the testy exchange below.