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Here is what the Schumer Shutdown, caused by Senate Democrats’ reckless obstruction, means for the Lowcountry:

  • 34,000 active-duty servicemembers in South Carolina are still required to work, but without pay. Federal law enforcement and TSA officers will also remain on the job without pay until the shutdown ends.
  • 25,000 federal employees in South Carolina face furloughs. Some will continue working without pay, while others will be sent home. All will receive back pay after the shutdown ends.
  • Veterans’ services: VA medical facilities and clinics will remain open and most benefits will continue to be processed. However, some Veterans services may experience disruption and delays.
  • Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability Insurance payments will continue. But certain services (like benefit verifications or processing overpayments) may pause and wait times for customer service could increase.
  • Flood insurance: Existing NFIP policies remain valid and claims will be paid, but new policies, renewals, or coverage increases cannot be issued.
  • Federal retirement benefits: Military and federal retirees will continue to receive their retirement checks, though new applications or changes may be delayed.
  • Small businesses: SBA will pause most business loans, however the SBA Disaster Loan Program will continue.
  • Housing: HUD, FHA and USDA will stop processing certain housing loans. VA will continue guaranteeing home loans.
  • Disaster relief: FEMA will continue responding to emergencies, however limited funds may impact FEMA’s ability to respond fully to an emergency and long-term projects may face delays.

Our office will remain open. Please reach out at Mace.House.Gov/Contact.
 

We are calling on Senate Democrats to stop the brinkmanship and pass a clean bill now to reopen the government immediately instead of playing politics with Americans’ lives.

 

“Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats are holding the government hostage, demanding $1.5 trillion in reckless spending and partisan handouts like free healthcare for illegal immigrants, all paid for by the American people,” said Rep. Mace. “They don’t care if our troops go unpaid or if families suffer. Democrats would rather shut down the government to bankroll their far-left agenda and buy votes with handouts.”

 

On September 19, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026, a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open through November 21. We voted in favor, along with 216 of our colleagues. Nearly every House Democrat voted no, and Senate Democrats blocked it, deliberately causing the government to shut down at midnight.

 

“If our service members are forced to work without pay, then Congress has no business cashing checks either,” Rep. Mace added. “I will not accept my salary until this Schumer Shutdown ends and our troops get the pay they’ve earned.”
 

We are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and prosecute Alexander Dickey for the brutal murder of 22-year-old Logan Federico.

Dickey has been arrested over 40 times in the past decade for violent crimes, including armed robbery and burglary. Following a high-speed chase after fleeing a traffic stop, smoking methamphetamine, and crashing his vehicle in a residential neighborhood, without provocation, Dickey shot Logan at point-blank range. He killed an innocent young woman while she was naked and on her knees.

Under Executive Order 14164, signed by President Trump, the Department of Justice is directed “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.” We argue this case clearly meets the standard and provides sufficient federal jurisdiction, making this crime only punishable by death.

We express deep concern about Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, who has reportedly informed Logan’s family he will not be pursuing the death penalty. Additionally, we, along with other prosecutors, are questioning the handling of the case by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, whose office has politicized the matter and lacks experience prosecuting capital crimes. Furthermore, Wilson’s overall politicizing of this case has severely jeopardized the state’s case and the ability for the state to pursue the death penalty may be completely off the table now because of Wilson’s ineptitude and incompetence.

 

Below is our letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina Bryan P. Stirling:
 

We are recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month by standing in solidarity with survivors and calling for tougher laws to prioritize their safety, deliver justice, and bring real consequences for abusers.

“This fight is personal. As a survivor of domestic violence, we will never stop working to ensure victims are protected and abusers are punished,” said Rep. Mace. “Too often, survivors are failed by the system meant to protect them.”

We have led the charge to strengthen protections for women and children, with legislation including:

  • RESPECT Act – Toughens sentences for sharing or threatening to share private explicit images, including both revenge porn and AI-generated deepfakes.
  • The Rape Shield Enhancement Act – Strengthens courtroom protections to ensure proceedings aren’t used to interrogate victims about their past but to hold predators accountable for their crimes.
  • HONOR Act – Updates the Uniform Code of Military Justice to enhance penalties for revenge porn and explicitly criminalizes deepfakes and other digital exploitation in the military, ensuring service members are protected and offenders face strict penalties.
  • Increased Accountability for Nonconsensual Pornography Act – Raises the maximum civil penalty for offenders to $500,000 and broadens the definition of explicit conduct, giving victims of voyeurism and nonconsensual pornography stronger tools to hold perpetrators accountable.
  • Stop the Invasion of Women’s Spaces Act – Bars biological men from women’s facilities in federally funded locations.
  • Stop Voyeurs Act – Closes loopholes in federal voyeurism law by expanding protections beyond maritime jurisdictions and raises the maximum prison sentence for offenders from one year to five years.
  • The Sue VOYEURS Act -- Gives victims of video and photo voyeurism the power to sue perpetrators, recover damages, and prevent further sharing of nonconsensual intimate images.
  • Protecting Women’s Private Spaces Act – Prohibits biological men from women’s facilities on federal property.
  • Protect Victims of Digital Exploitation and Manipulation Act – Criminalizes AI-generated deepfake pornography without consent.
  • Prison Rape Prevention Act – Stops housing biological men in women’s prisons.
  • Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act – Expands the grounds for denying entry and deporting foreign nationals to include sex offenses, domestic violence, and crimes against children, ensuring the removal of dangerous predators who are a danger to our citizens.
  • Tyler’s Law – Requires rapid reporting of deadly children’s products.

Below are community resources for supporting survivors of abuse, including:

Constituents can contact our Daniel Island or Beaufort offices at any time for assistance, guidance, or support. Contact information can be found here.

You can find all of our ongoing efforts to champion women’s and victims’ rights here.
 

This week marks the second anniversary of the horrific October 7th attack against Israel. We issued the following statement condemning these acts of terror and reaffirming our unwavering support for Israel: 

 

“Two years ago, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered over 1,200 innocent men, women, and children in the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. On October 7th, the world witnessed pure evil, and we vowed “Never Again.” Today, this promise must mean something. It means standing firmly with Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism. It means bringing every hostage home. It means confronting antisemitism wherever it appears, on college campuses, in our streets, or in the halls of Congress. We remember the lives lost, the families shattered, and the courage of a nation who refuses to be broken. Am Yisrael Chai, the People of Israel Live," said Rep. Mace. 
 

We toured the Dorchester Paws animal shelter to see the work their team is doing. From rescuing strays to finding forever homes, their impact is real and so is their need for support. Last year, we helped secure a $30,000 grant to support the hiring of adoption staff. Additionally, we supported a $5,000 award through another grant to expand veterinary services for pets and their owners in Dorchester County. This funding helps support Dorchester Paws and their incredible work in our community. Our office looks forward to their new shelter when it opens. It will mean more space, more care, and more second chances. 

 

Check out our visit to the shelter here.
 

We are calling for transparency from South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson following revelations he dismissed over 92% of child pornography and child sexual exploitation cases in Dorchester County from 2019 to 2022.

According to official data obtained through a South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office (SCAG) disposed of 385 cases involving child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors in Dorchester County from January 1, 2019 to 2022. Of those:

  • 356 cases were dismissed outright, representing 92.5% of all cases he “prosecuted.”
  • Only 29 cases resulted in convictions, a conviction rate of just 7.5%.
  • Of those 29 convictions, only two defendants received any active prison time, with the rest receiving probation or time-served sentences.
  • The average age of pending cases in Dorchester County is 740 days, more than two years, with 324 cases pending.

“This data is appalling and indefensible,” said Rep. Mace. “When almost every single child predator case is being dismissed and nearly every conviction results in a slap on the wrist, it is a betrayal of justice and an active threat to Lowcountry children.”

The data, originally documented in the First Circuit Solicitor’s 2022–2023 Dorchester County budget request, explicitly stated law enforcement agencies within the First Judicial Circuit have lost confidence in the Attorney General’s Office due to its failure to prosecute child exploitation cases efficiently and its leniency in negotiating sentences.

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe formally requested his office take over prosecution of these cases from the SCAG, citing both “failure by the SCAG to prosecute these cases efficiently” and a pattern of lenient plea bargains that undermine pedophile victims.

Calls for State Oversight and Reform

We called on the South Carolina Legislature and oversight bodies to conduct an immediate review of how the SCAG has been managing these cases statewide.

“If this is happening in Dorchester County, where 92.5% of all child exploitation cases prosecuted by the Attorney General are dismissed, how many other counties are seeing the same failures?” Rep. Mace asked. “We need full reporting from the Attorney General’s Office. Families deserve to know why so many child predators are walking free, not on any sex registry and free to continue to abuse children on the AG’s watch.”

We announced plans to send a formal letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting an independent audit of the SCAG’s handling of Internet Crimes Against Children prosecutions and coordination with local solicitors. We also plan to demand an investigation by the S.C. Inspector General’s Office and if the Attorney General doesn’t provide statewide data immediately, it’s not out of the question that he could be forced to resign.
 

Following the appalling data we uncovered in Dorchester County, we filed another FOIA request with Attorney General Alan Wilson’s Office for statewide information to get answers and accountability.

We sent a formal FOIA request to SCAG Alan Wilson’s Office seeking detailed data on how the Attorney General’s Office has handled cases involving child pornography and the sexual exploitation of minors since January 1, 2019.

In the letter, we ask for comprehensive statewide information including the number of cases filed, dismissed, and resulting in convictions; average case duration; plea agreements; sentencing outcomes; and details of bond releases, broken down by county and year.

The request follows previous findings from a 2022 memorandum by First Circuit Solicitor David M. Pascoe, obtained by our office through an earlier FOIA request, which revealed that of 385 cases related to child exploitation in Dorchester County between 2019 and 2022, more than 92% were dismissed and only 7.5% resulted in conviction, none by jury trial.

“These are some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and it appears Alan Wilson has turned South Carolina into a sanctuary state for p*dophiles,” said Rep. Mace. “Families deserve to know how p*dophile cases are being handled and whether justice is truly being served for our children. If the system is this broken in one county, we need to know how far Alan Wilson’s negligence has infected the rest of the state. The public has a right to know what’s happening across all 46 counties. And we need to know NOW.”

Our FOIA request urges the Attorney General’s Office to release the data to ensure accountability and public confidence in the prosecution of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
 

We spoke with Fox News about why we’re calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and prosecute Alexander Dickey for brutally murdering 22-year-old Logan Federico. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has never prosecuted a death penalty case and may have just completely jeopardized this one. The feds need to take over, without prejudice or politics.
 

Charlie Clontz, president of Clemson TPUSA, wrote a letter to the editor recognizing our visit to their recent event in Clemson. Thank you for standing up and proving our nation’s future is in capable hands. Keep speaking truth and defending what Charlie Kirk dedicated his life to: faith, family, freedom, and fearless debate. America needs voices like yours now more than ever.
 

Live 5 News covered how we obtained official data through a FOIA request showing how SCAG Alan Wilson dismissed over 92% of child pornography and child sexual exploitation cases in Dorchester County from 2019 to 2022.
 

WSAV covered our tour of Lady’s Island Oyster Farm in Beaufort as we saw firsthand the science, precision, and hard work behind oyster farming. From supporting local jobs to protecting coastal ecosystems, this work keeps our waters productive for generations to come.
 

Military Academy nominations open doors for the next generation of leaders who will serve our nation. Students can apply to one of five prestigious service academies: the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and U.S. Coast Guard Academy. A congressional nomination is required for admission to any of the service academies. Applications close November 1 at midnight, apply now at Mace.House.Gov/Apply.
 
 
 

Yours in Service,
Rep. Nancy Mace signature

Rep. Nancy Mace

Member of Congress