Fact Check: Is Rep Nancy Mace planning to retire from Congress after Marjorie Taylor Greene?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Rumors about Rep Nancy Mace considering an early exit from Congress erupted online this week after a New York Times report suggested the South Carolina Republican was dissatisfied with Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership.

The chatter intensified as social media users speculated she might be preparing to follow Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently announced her resignation.

Claim: Nancy Mace planned early retirement after Marjorie Taylor Greene

The claim circulating online suggested that Rep Nancy Mace was preparing to discuss her early retirement with Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced in late November that she would step down. The speculation stemmed from reporting by New York Times journalist Annie Karni, who wrote that Mace had confided to people around her that she was frustrated with Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership and disillusioned by how women were being treated within the House.

Some readers interpreted this frustration as a sign that Mace was about to call it quits. Screenshots and edited headlines spread on X, Instagram, and political forums, linking her discontent directly to Greene’s resignation. The rumor quickly snowballed, with users claiming the two lawmakers were coordinating their exits as part of a larger rebuke against Johnson.

Fact Check: Nancy Mace denies retiring and confirms she is staying in Congress

There is no evidence that Nancy Mace is planning to retire, and her office publicly rejected the rumor.

Local outlet News 4 reached out to the congresswoman’s team, who pointed to her latest posts on X. In those posts, Mace addressed the growing speculation by criticizing Congress’s slow pace and the lack of progress on former President Donald Trump’s agenda, but she firmly dismissed the retirement narrative.

“Not confirmed: That anyone is retiring,” she wrote.

She later doubled down, stating, “I loathe how slow Congress moves. I loathe that we haven’t delivered on President Trump’s agenda. I loathe serious lawmakers aren’t taken seriously. I loathe the press making stories up… Nowhere did I say I was retiring. Internet is wild.”

A spokesperson for Mace echoed her comments, issuing a direct statement refuting the rumors: “Mace is NOT retiring. She is NOT considering retirement and NOT discussing leaving Congress early — that claim is untrue.”

Mace also posted a video on her Instagram account, reiterating that she is staying in Congress and directly calling out the misinformation circulating about her future.

Internal GOP frustrations and Nancy Mace’s recent actions in Congress

While Mace denied any talk of retirement, the rumors reflected broader tensions within the GOP. The New York Times report that sparked the speculation highlighted growing dissatisfaction among Republican women who expressed concerns over Speaker Johnson’s leadership style, priorities, and treatment of female lawmakers.

Amid this political strain, Mace has taken several notable steps in the House. On Wednesday, she signed a discharge petition initiated by Rep Anna Paulina Luna to force a vote on banning stock trading for members of Congress, a move intended to bypass Johnson after he declined to schedule the vote.