In a tense exchange that lit up Capitol Hill on Thursday, Nancy Mace fiercely confronted Tim Walz during a House Oversight Committee hearing.Republican Congresswoman Mace demanded that the Minnesota governor define what a woman is.The South Carolina lawmaker, known for her outspoken stance on transgender policy, posed a direct question to Walz: “What is a woman?”Walz appeared caught off guard. “I’m not quite sure I understand your question here,” he responded after a moment’s pause, prompting Mace to press him again. “What do you want me to say?” he asked, still not providing a clear answer.Mace didn’t hold back. Raising her voice, she said, “I want you to say a woman like me is an adult human female. That men can’t become women.” She accused the Democratic Party of erasing women and disrespecting their identities. “You guys are the party of violence and the party erasing women, you don’t respect us, you’re a bigot, you’re a misogynist, you’re a sexist,” she added, before quickly dominating the floor without allowing Walz to respond.The exchange over gender identity took centre stage. Other Democratic governors, including New York’s Kathy Hochul and Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker faced tough questions about their immigration stances during the session.Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who followed Mace in the questioning order, reacted to the fiery moment with visible confusion. “Alright, well, that was some kind of Bingo going on over there,” she remarked. “I don’t know what’s going on.”After the hearing, Mace took to X to share a video of the confrontation and criticised Walz’s response. “‘Tampon Tim’ Walz couldn’t define a woman today in [committee] when I had him in the pressure cooker,” she said. “He was speechless.”The label “Tampon Tim” is one that conservative critics have used for Walz, especially in light of his support for transgender rights in Minnesota. Under his leadership, the state has called itself a “trans refuge,” allowing minors to access gender-transition treatments even if their home states oppose such procedures.Walz’s administration has also faced criticism for removing sex-based protections for women and remaining silent as transgender athletes compete in girls’ sports. The governor also faced renewed backlash during the hearing for comments made in a recent graduation speech, where he compared ICE to “Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.” Mace challenged that statement as well, saying, “You know that ICE has not committed genocide against anyone?”Tim Walz was also the former vice presidential candidate representing the democratic party in the 2024 US elections.