At today's House DOGE Committee hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) questioning of witnesses led Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) to call a point of order.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We will now begin the five-minute question period of the hearing.
00:05I would like to remind the members that Mr. Leifelt is here under a duly issued subpoena
00:12to answer questions at today's hearing.
00:15After refusing to appear voluntarily, I now recognize myself for five minutes for the
00:20purpose of asking questions.
00:23No one is here today to harm transgenders.
00:27We are here to defend girls and women, and we are here to defend Title IX, and to uphold
00:33President Trump's executive order that all biological males stay out of girls' and women's
00:40sports.
00:41Here displayed behind me is the post that Mr. Leifelt put up.
00:46Mr. Leifelt came in here today saying that this is game day.
00:51You're right, Mr. Leifelt, this is game day.
00:55Under the Ted Stevens Act, USA fencing and other national governing bodies that are authorized
01:01to oversee individual sports on a national level have a certain obligation.
01:06One such duty is to provide support and encouragement for participation by women where separate programs
01:13for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis.
01:18Another statutory duty is to promote a safe environment in sports that is free from abuse of any amateur
01:27athlete, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
01:32Mr. Leifelt, as the board chair of USA fencing, surely you are aware of these legal requirements.
01:40That means you believe that forcing a woman to compete against a biological man promotes
01:46a safe environment that is free from emotional abuse.
01:49Is that correct?
01:50One moment.
01:51A point of order, please, Madam Chair.
01:52You're not—you're not—
01:53Madam Chair, I have a point of order.
01:56The document that you have up behind you is a misrepresentation of the actual post.
02:02It appears that you're trying to misrepresent a witness here who you used subpoena powers against.
02:08This is not—
02:08Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Stansbury, this is not a point of order.
02:12This is the actual picture that she has put and put on the board behind me.
02:14Ms. Stansbury, you're not recognized.
02:16Ms. Stansbury, you're not recognized.
02:18Ms. Stansbury, you are not recognized.
02:20Madam Chairwoman, you are misrepresenting the truth.
02:22You are misrepresenting the truth.
02:23This is not a point of order.
02:25Ms. Stansbury, this is not a point of order.
02:27Ms. Stansbury.
02:28Ms. Stansbury, you are misrepresenting the witnesses.
02:32Ms. Stansbury.
02:33Ms. Stansbury, you are misrepresenting policy.
02:34You are misrepresenting—
02:35Ms. Stansbury, you're not recognized.
02:37This—you're not recognized.
02:38That's not a point of order.
02:40You're abusing the rules of this committee.
02:42This is the post of Mr. Leifelt that he posted himself on his own social media.
02:49And that's exactly why we have it displayed here today, because Mr. Leifelt believes that he
02:54can take away the opportunities for women to compete in USA fencing.
02:59And he thinks this is game day to defend biological men.
03:04Now, we're going to return to my time as chair of this committee.
03:09Ms. Turner, refusing to compete against a man cost you a 12-month probation.
03:15Did you feel you were in a safe environment, free from abuse, when you were told you must
03:21compete against a man in an all-out competition?
03:26Ms. No.
03:27No.
03:28That wasn't free from emotional abuse.
03:30Ms. McNabb, when a biological man spiked a ball into your head, were you free from physical
03:36or emotional abuse?
03:38Ms. I was not.
03:40Ms. McNabb, did you feel you were placed in a safe environment?
03:44When you faced a biological male in a girls' volleyball game?
03:49Ms. No.
03:50I did not feel safe.
03:51Ms. Turner, were you safe when you were forced to go up against a biological male in your sport?
03:59Ms. No, I was not.
04:01Ms. Leifelt, do you think your perception of what constitutes a safe environment for women
04:07is more valid than that of a woman testifying here today?
04:11Congresswoman, thank you for your question.
04:14There was a study that was published in 2010 regarding the safety of sports in the Olympic
04:19movement.
04:20There were 51 sports that were assessed as part of that study.
04:23Ms. That's a yes or no question, Mr. Leifelt.
04:25Is that your perception?
04:26You're sitting next to a young woman who received a brain injury from a biological male.
04:31Is it safe to compete against biological males?
04:34Yes or no, Mr. Leifelt?
04:35What happened to Ms.
04:36Yes or no?
04:37What happened to Ms. McNabb was?
04:38I'll take that as a no.
04:39Mr. Leifelt, do you think forcing a woman to change in front of a man in a locker room
04:43is abusive?
04:44Yes or no?
04:46Congresswoman, I'm not sure I follow the question.
04:48Do you want your daughter to change in front of biological men in locker rooms?
04:52Yes or no?
04:54My daughter isn't really something that should be part of this area, respectfully.
04:58If you're not a quick no on that, we're going to take that as a no.
05:02We're going to switch gears to USA Fencing site selection policy.
05:05You're the chair of USA Fencing.
05:07You should be familiar.
05:08Mr. Leifelt, what does abortion have to do with fencing?
05:12Congresswoman, that policy was passed before I got on the board.
05:16However, when—
05:17You're the chair of the board now.
05:19What does abortion have to do with fencing, Mr. Leifelt?
05:21I'm on the board, you're correct.
05:23And I offered an amendment to that policy back in December, Congresswoman,
05:28that allowed for more flexibility at the city level.
05:32What, to get an abortion while you're at fencing competitions?
05:34I don't think so.
05:35And it also allowed for better convenience.
05:37So we enhanced the policy—
05:38More convenience to Planned Parenthood centers.
05:40Mr. Leifelt, why does USA Fencing state's abortion policies and LGBTQ policies
05:46in its site selection process to determine where tournaments are held?
05:50That's part of your site selection process, is abortion availability and states and cities that are friendly to LGBTQ policies.
06:02How is that part of USA Fencing?
06:04Congresswoman, we try to have tournaments in sites that are safe for all of our members, period.
06:09So you don't think red states are safe for fencing athletes?
06:14Red states are absolutely safe, and we regularly host tournaments there, including Texas, Ohio—
06:19No, your site selection policies are based on abortion availability and LGBTQ availability, not on fencing, not on your sport.
06:30Now, let's go a little bit further with this.
06:34Madam Chairwoman, your time has expired.
06:36You're not recognized, Ms. Crockett.
06:39Mr. Leifelt, you wrote a blog post where you said that one day your daughter—
06:44Madam Chair, on a point of order—
06:46This is my time, and I'm the chair of the committee.
06:48Well, no, that was your time. Your time is over, and now we're asking a week—
06:52The chair has discretion to assign time, and you know it's your—
06:54I've lost time. I have lost time.
06:55As long as we have that understanding, that's fine.
06:58I have lost time.
06:59I yield two and a half minutes to the chair lady.
07:01Mr. Leifelt, you wrote a blog post where you said that one day your daughter might compete against a transgender woman, a biological man.
07:11You said that if she did, you might win or she might lose.
07:15But whatever the result, you hope she doesn't care about the outcome,
07:20because the important thing is that both she and her opponent enjoy the match.
07:25That's what you wrote in your little trans manifesto.
07:28But you came here today to win, and you came here today to defeat women in their own sport.
07:37So as you stand here before this committee today, you are a man that would tell your daughter to lose and enjoy it to a biological man.
07:49My time has expired, and with that, I recognize Ms. Stansbury to defend all the trans.
07:56Point of order.
07:59Out of curiosity, is the chairwoman allowed to editorialize before every speaker on the Democratic side speaks,
08:08or is that part of her time, which we know that she went over?
08:12It's not a point of order.
08:14You're taking Ms. Stansbury's time.
08:16I know you're trying to be chair of oversight, but Ms. Stansbury is the ranking member.
08:19Chair would be better on this side. I do agree with that.
08:22It's Ms. Stansbury's time.