Stephanie Turner, Payton McNabb open up on chaotic DOGE hearing on trans athletes

Female athletes Stephanie Turner and Payton McNabb testified to members of Congress at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee's "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" hearing on Wednesday.

At one point during the hearing, the two women were approached by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. 

"'You're both very courageous. You're very courageous being here, and I want to say thank you for all of this,'" Crockett said to the two women, Turner told Fox News Digital.  

"And I said ‘Payton and I both took time out of our day to be there, and I find it very disrespectful that you would co-opt this hearing that is about me and Payton and make it about your own politics.’"

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Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, center, speaks to Stephanie Turner, left, a fencer who refused to compete against a transgender athlete, and Payton McNabb, a former North Carolina high school volleyball player who was injured by a transgender opponent, during the hearing on "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" held by the DOGE Subcommittee on May 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Crockett had just used her turn during the hearing to divert the conversation away from protecting women's sports, the main purpose of the hearing, to condemn President Donald Trump for other issues. Crockett had previously attempted to speak 

Crockett even made light of the issue of trans athlete inclusion by turning her monologue into a game she called "Trump or Trans." The game featured Crockett asking another witness whether to blame Trump or trans people for a series of unsubstantiated issues that included "increasing the price of everything" and "ignoring the constitution." The witness responded "Trump" all 12 times. 

Crockett has been outspokenly opposed to Republican efforts to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports, even previously mocking Americans who claim to have been impacted. Yet, she tried to be complimentary with McNabb and Turner, according to them. 

"I think she was lying," McNabb told Fox News Digital. "I did not believe one word she said, because literally the theatrics, and just how she acted literally the whole time and then trying to come over and whisper and be nice girl to us. I don't know what happened, it was like a whole other person than what we all saw 10 seconds before she got over there."

Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett for further comment.

Crockett's antics were one of just several incidents that highlighted a hearing of chaos that involved multiple shouting matches between committee members and witnesses, as well as plainly questionable comments. Many such comments confused, frustrated and offended Turner and McNabb. 

McNabb suffered permanent brain injuries in high school after getting spiked in the head by a trans opponent during a volleyball match. She then had to watch opposing witness Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women's Law Center, suggest that the way to prevent other women from facing similar injuries is to prevent spiking in volleyball altogether.

"I would argue that the answer is to ensure people can't spike volleyballs into other people's heads," Goss Graves said during the hearing when responding McNabb's story.

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Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene holds up maps of the U.S. in front of an alleged screenshot from USA Fencing board director Damien Lehfeldt's Instagram during the hearing on "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" held by the Department of Government Efficiency Subcommittee at the U.S. Capitol on May 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

For McNabb, Goss Graves' answer was startling. 

"That was just absolutely ridiculous," McNabb said. "The fact of the matter is, that day and that injury was unlike anything else I've ever experienced, and it's because it was a man who hit me in the face, it's really just that simple."

What came as an even bigger shock to McNabb was when Goss Graves offered to work with the former volleyball player to help her recover from her brain damage, during the hearing. 

"That's not happening. This woman is obviously not sane, and I don't know why she would think I would ever want some medical advice or advice in general from her," McNabb said.

Turner, who went viral in April for refusing to face a trans opponent at a fencing match and getting punished by USA Fencing, took particular offense to comments made by Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Cal. During Simon's turn, she suggested that protecting women's sports would lead to bringing back racial segregation and that Black women would be disproportionately targeted by trans athlete restriction laws. 

"I find that, as a Black woman myself, to be quite offensive," Turner said. 

"I find it offensive because they lead with this statement ‘as a Black woman, I’m a Black woman.' Well, I'm a Black woman, I was born in Washington D.C., I was raised in one of the bluest parts of America in Montgomery County, Maryland, and no, I don't agree with you, that's wrong." 

Wednesday also marked the first time Turner came face-to-face with USA Fencing chair Damien Lehfeldt, who was subpoenaed to the hearing, since her viral kneel protest. Turner was given a black card for refusing to face the trans opponent, disqualified and escorted out of the venue, and then given a 12-month probation. 

Lehfeldt was aggressively pressed by Republican committee members throughout the hearing about his organization's pro-trans policies and punishment of Turner. 

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From left to right, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speak during the hearing on "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" held by the Department of Government Efficiency Subcommittee at the U.S. Capitol on May 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

At one point, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., used her time to ask Lehfeldt to apologize to Turner. Lefheldt did not apologize upon the request, and in response, Mace suggested Lehfeldt was "not" a man.

"Real men protect women, you're not one," Mace said. 

Turner said she was not surprised by Lehfeldt's refusal to apologize and would not have accepted it even if he did.

"An apology is just empty words without actions," Turner said. 

Turner added that after Wednesday's hearing, she sees the next big goal in the movement to protect women's sports is to push USA Fencing to make concrete changes to its gender eligibility policy to protect women competitors. 

The organization said it is preparing to amend its current policies that allow biological males to compete with women and girls in the event that it is "forced" to change it. 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon previously announced that the newly formed Title IX investigations team will be probing the incident involving Turner and trans competitor Redmond Sullivan. 

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