McConnell reportedly promises to have at least one woman in all health-care meetings

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised Republican colleagues that all special working group meetings about the American Health Care Act will not be 100 percent male, an unnamed GOP lawmaker told The Hill in a report published Friday.
"The leader has assured us that at least one of the women will attend all of the meetings going forward," the legislator said. "He basically told the lunch that everyone in the caucus was invited," explained another unnamed working group member. "He told the lunch that everyone in the caucus, including the women, can come." Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) are known to have attended recent health-care meetings.
This assurance comes after congressional Republicans came under criticism for holding health-care reform negotiations with no women involved. McConnell's original working group list of senators who would craft the Senate version of the AHCA featured 13 men and no women. There are only 21 women in the Senate, of whom just five are Republicans and therefore likely to be invited to work on the GOP bill.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Magazine solutions - March 14, 2025
Feature Issue - March 14, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - March 14, 2025
Feature Issue - March 14, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Why is MAGA turning on Amy Coney Barrett?
Today's Big Question She may be the swing vote on Trump cases
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US Steel
Speed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battle
Speed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rally
Speed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published