"Back to the private sector I go", outgoing Rep. Nancy Mace confirms she is leaving Congress for the private sector in January
On Capitol Hill on September 1, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace told TMZ she is definitively leaving Congress in January and returning to the private sector. "Back to the private sector I go," she said, adding she would "go back and work like every other hardworking American."
"Back to the private sector I go." Nancy Mace, U.S. Representative (R-SC), Capitol Hill, September 1, 2026
Reporting credit: This exchange is from TMZ, "Rep. Nancy Mace Shows Off Tattoos, Says More Ink Is Coming", by TMZ Staff, September 1, 2026. The full video is embedded below.
On Capitol Hill on September 1, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace stopped to talk with TMZ while holding her new Havanese puppy, Millie. When asked whether she got the dog in part because she would soon have extra time on her hands, Mace confirmed she is leaving Congress in January and heading back to the private sector.
Her words, verbatim:
"I am definitely going to have extra time starting in January, and definitely wanted to get a puppy to fill some of that time.", Nancy Mace
"Back to the private sector I go.", Nancy Mace
"Are you going to the private sector?" (TMZ)
"Oh yeah, for sure. Go back and work like every other hardworking American.", Nancy Mace
Mace, who lost the Republican gubernatorial primary in June 2026 and chose not to seek re-election to her congressional seat, addressed her post-Congress plans directly and without hesitation. She offered no further detail about which sector or what kind of work she plans to pursue.
Watch the clip
The full TMZ interview, including this exchange, appears in TMZ's video from Capitol Hill on September 1, 2026 (video courtesy of TMZ):
Video: TMZ, "Rep. Nancy Mace Shows Off Tattoos, Says More Ink Is Coming", Capitol Hill, September 1, 2026. Video courtesy of TMZ.
Context
Mace won the SC-1 congressional seat in 2020, was re-elected in 2022 and 2024, and opted to run for governor in 2026 rather than seek a fourth term. She finished near the bottom of the Republican gubernatorial primary field in June. Her House term ends in January 2027 when the 120th Congress is sworn in.
Her public record and biography are covered in the Nancy Mace wiki entry and the 2026 Governor Campaign hub.
Sources & related coverage
- TMZ Staff, "Rep. Nancy Mace Shows Off Tattoos, Says More Ink Is Coming", TMZ, September 1, 2026 (primary source)
- Yahoo Entertainment re-host
- TMZ on Facebook (video)
- TMZ on TikTok
- Related: Nancy Mace wiki | 2026 Governor Campaign
Read next
September 2, 2026 · DispatchMace Calls Herself an 'Empty Nester' on Camera: She Has Joint Custody of Her Daughter
On Capitol Hill on September 1, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace told TMZ she is an 'empty nester and single' and got a puppy 'so I could have a baby to take care of.' Mace has joint custody of her 17-year-old daughter from her 2019 divorce from Curtis Jackson. 'Empty nester' is a term for parents whose children have grown and left the home, not parents with joint custody of a minor. Her own words on camera confirm her daughter is not living with her.
September 2, 2026 · Dispatch"I'd rather feel a needle than go talk to a therapist": Mace ties tattoos to three years of trauma, on camera with TMZ
On Capitol Hill, Sept 1 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace told TMZ on camera that her tattoos are 'definitely related to the trauma I've been through the last three years' and that she would 'rather sit and feel a needle than go talk to a therapist.' She went on to say tattoo-getting is part of a healing process she shares with many women who have been through trauma.
September 2, 2026 · DispatchMace tells Piers Morgan her tattoos helped her process trauma: "One of the ways that I have dealt with that trauma is by artwork, is by the tattooing"
In a September 1, 2026 interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Rep. Nancy Mace directly connects her public tattoo reveal to trauma recovery, says she was 'not hiding behind the trauma' of recent years, calls out the Pete Hegseth double standard, and confirms she has more than nine tattoos. She says leaving Congress means she can finally go sleeveless freely.
September 1, 2026 · DispatchMace missed another vote yesterday. The only House members skipping more are on medical leave.
The U.S. House came back on Monday, August 31, 2026 from its five-week August recess, and Rep. Nancy Mace missed both of the first two roll-call votes, one of 42 members absent. It fits a documented pattern: Mace has missed 36.1% of all 2026 votes through August, more than one in three, against a House median near one in fifty. The only two sitting members who have missed a larger share of 2026's votes, Thomas Kean Jr. and Frederica Wilson, were both on disclosed medical leave. Mace has given no public reason for her absences.
September 2, 2026 · Dispatch'Don't Trans My Dog': Mace Catches Burchett Misgendering Her Havanese on Capitol Hill
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) walked into a TMZ interview on Capitol Hill, joked that Mace's Havanese puppy Millie bit him, then misgendered the dog. Mace told him: 'Don't trans my dog.' Burchett defended himself: 'I'm not transing your dog.'
August 30, 2026 · Dispatch'More Republican Members Than Nancy Mace Has Tattoos': Kevin McCarthy's Fox News Jab
On a Fox News Channel segment that aired in August 2026, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy analyzed Florida's election results and Ron DeSantis-era redistricting, then landed a line on Nancy Mace's tattoos: 'We'll have more Republican members than Nancy Mace has tattoos. And that's just today.' The clip was reshared on X by @GOP_is_Gutless the same day. Mace has said she has nine tattoos by her own account, and on August 30, 2026 told NewsNation she might have 'more than nine.' McCarthy's line is his own quip, quoted and attributed; Maceopedia adopts no characterization of Mace.