The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has called for a hearing with USA Fencing after a female athlete faced repercussions for refusing a match with transgender fencer.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), the chairwoman of the DOGE subcommittee, announced on Tuesday that the hearing scheduled for May 7 will focus on USA Fencing’s gender eligibility policies.
“Women’s sports are for women only. Radical leftists pushing to let biological men compete against women are destroying fair competition and putting female athletes in physical danger. Stephanie Turner had the courage to call out this insanity, and she’s a hero to women across America,” Greene said in the announcement.
“USA Fencing must be held accountable for demeaning women and denying them of the chance to succeed in their own sport. It is out of compliance with President Trump’s executive order, and it should not be recognized as the National Governing Body for fencing if it continues to defy the law,” she added.
As Breitbart News reported recently, women’s fencer Stephanie Turner refused a match against a transgender opponent at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland, opting to take a knee instead. When Turner learned that she would be facing off against transgender fencer Redmond Sullivan, she wanted her protest to be caught on video and decided to take a knee just before the match began. She had already participated in warmups and competed in four bouts that day.
Woman immediately disqualified and expelled from a @USAFencing event after refusing to face a male opponent.
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) April 2, 2025
This type of protest needs to be mirrored by female athletes at scale. By agreeing to compete, you tacitly accept the absurd premise.pic.twitter.com/uAoM3UlzWm
Not only did USA Fencing defend its inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, but Damien Lehfelt, the chair of USA Fencing, was seen publicly championing men who disadvantage women after being called out. The Independent Council of Women’s Sports shared several screenshots from Lehfelt’s Instagram Stories in which he outright said that “cisgendered” women should be disadvantaged while arrogantly thumbing his nose in the face of a woman who complained about his stance.
Turner and Damien Lehfeldt have been invited to testify at the hearing.
According to Fox News, Education Secretary Linda McMahon “announced Friday a newly formed Title IX investigations team will be probing the incident involving Turner and trans competitor Redmond Sullivan.”
USA Fencing also said it will cooperate with the investigation.
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