Nancy Mace gives Republicans 'hard truth' they 'don't want to hear'

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who is leaving Congress to run for governor of South Carolina, is firing some parting shots at her Republican colleagues.

In a Monday op-ed for the New York Times, Mace called out her party's leadership for failing to effectively govern despite having majorities in both the House and Senate. She accused the GOP of promoting members to leadership based on politics, rather than how effective they were at passing legislation. And she railed against leaders keeping bills secret from members until it was time to vote.

"A small number of lawmakers negotiate major legislation behind closed doors and spring it on members with little notice or opportunity for input," she wrote. "Leadership promises members their provisions will be in a bill, then strips them out in final drafts. Every must-pass bill is loaded with thousands of pages of unrelated policies, presented as take-it-or-leave-it. The House has abdicated control of appropriations, which the Constitution says must originate here, to the Senate."

The South Carolina Republican pointed to the latest effort to ban members of Congress from trading stocks as a way in which leaders "have systematically silenced rank-and-file voices." She noted that despite a broad majority of Americans being in favor of a stock trading ban and imposing term limits on lawmakers, leaders have refused to listen to members and the constituents they represent.

"These are bipartisan supermajority positions. The House cannot hold a simple up-or-down vote on any of them," she lamented.

Mace even heaped praise on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The outgoing congresswoman held her up as an example of a leader who was able to use a House majority to her party's advantage by prioritizing passing legislation.

"Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century," Mace wrote. "I agree with her on essentially nothing. But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent. When Democrats hold the majority, they ram through the most progressive policies they can. They deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power."

Click here to read Mace's full op-ed in the New York Times (subscription required).