The House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA) and with it, the first-ever permanent protection for women in sports.
During the first round of NDAA voting, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina 1st) offered an amendment to the bill that specifically prohibits men from competing on women’s sports teams at military academies. Congresswoman Mace is known for being one of the first women to graduate from The Citadel, a military college in her home city of Charleston.
The issue of men in women’s sports is not foreign to U.S. military academies. In fact, just last year, the Air Force Academy’s volleyball team was forced to compete against a man on the San Jose State University women’s team. The House amendment passed 227-201, gaining the most Congressional Democratic support ever on a measure to keep men out of women’s sports. (Read more here.)
The Senate version of the NDAA included the same provision, but in the base text of the bill, rather than as an added amendment. The NDAA then moved to conference, where both chambers reconciled the remaining differences and produced a bill that both the House and the Senate will pass. They released this text on Sunday, and by keeping this protection intact, they created a remarkable moment for female athletes.
After nearly a decade of fighting on Capitol Hill, the Senate filibuster has been an insurmountable roadblock to meaningful protections against male intrusion in women’s sports. The House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in both the 118th and 119th Congresses, but the Senate has been unable to gain enough support to overcome the filibuster. That is, until now.
The NDAA is must-pass legislation; it is what authorizes military spending. The spending package overwhelmingly passed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, and Senate leadership will make its passage a priority.
The inclusion of the NDAA women’s sports protection underscores the importance of the issue. While the President has signed an executive order on the topic, the executive order is temporary, and several states have refused to comply. But the measure in the NDAA does not require reauthorization, so it is permanent unless Congress specifically repeals it.
While these protections narrowly extend to athletics at military academies, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is counting it as a big win. It truly is a pat on the back to CWALAC’s leaders across the country who have been fighting on this issue for nearly a decade. Years went by of us being laughed out of offices while elected officials insisted this was not a real issue. But with the passage of the NDAA, CWALAC leaders will celebrate the first Congressional leap towards protecting female athletes in federal law.
