All but two Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee skipped a Wednesday hearing on protecting women's sports, and the two who showed up left within the first hour without asking a single question.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee's ranking Democrat, arrived long enough to deliver an opening statement dismissing the hearing's premise, then walked out. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sat through part of the session but never spoke. The remaining eight Democratic members did not appear at all. Zero Democratic witnesses were called. The result was a hearing in which only Republican senators questioned the people who had come to testify about fairness and safety in women's athletics.
The walkout left Republicans taking turns with witnesses while the Democratic side of the dais sat empty, a visual that GOP members seized on immediately. Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida, among the sharpest critics of her absent colleagues, pointed to the gap in real time.
"The reason why it is going now from one Republican senator to another Republican senator is because there's not one Democratic senator here to ask those that are actually involved as females in female sports about the dangers and missed opportunities and challenges for what's been happening across our nation for our young women and girls."
Moody directed that remark at the hearing room itself, where witnesses sat with no Democratic senator willing to engage them. Fox News Digital reported that the outlet reached out to all 10 Democratic committee members about their absence. Only Durbin's office responded.
Before departing, Durbin used his opening statement to recast the hearing as an attack on transgender youth. He cited a study from the Trevor Project claiming young LGBTQ+ people face a "higher risk of suicide," then announced he would not participate further.
"I will not ask questions, and I already did not call any witnesses."
Durbin also argued that proposed protections for women's sports amount to overreach. In his telling, the real victims are not female athletes forced to compete against biological males but transgender individuals subjected to scrutiny.
"We can all agree that we want to be fair and safe in women's athletics, but this vendetta against a small number of people in the trans community affects everyone, including cisgender girls, who can be subject to inappropriate gender verification checks."
His office had issued a press release in March 2025 claiming that measures to protect women's sports would "subject women and girls to physical inspection by an adult if someone from an opposing team accused them of being transgender." That characterization drew strong backlash, including from within the Democratic base. The Supreme Court has already upheld state bans on trans athletes in women's sports, a ruling that undercut much of the legal framework Democrats had relied on to oppose such protections.
When asked about the hearing, Durbin's spokesperson offered a one-line response: "Sen. Durbin explained his position during his opening statement this morning."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut did not attend the hearing at all. When a reporter caught up with him in person, Blumenthal said he had been in a classified briefing on the Iran war. Asked about his stance on protecting women's sports, he shut the conversation down.
"I'm not going to talk about it in the hallway here."
The remaining eight Democratic senators offered no public explanation. None responded to the outlet's inquiries. The pattern was uniform: silence.
Moody reserved her most pointed criticism for the Democratic women who chose not to show up. Witnesses had traveled to Washington to describe their experiences competing against biological males, and not a single female Democratic senator was present to hear them.
"Shockingly, not one female Democratic senator has engaged in this hearing or asked you any questions about your experiences, your concerns, your fears based on your backgrounds, [or] what you predict may happen in the future if we don't, as you said, lead."
Moody also took aim at Durbin's opening statement, suggesting it was designed to provide cover for his party's absence rather than to engage with the substance of the hearing.
"I assume that was because he's trying to justify why not one woman on the other side of the aisle showed up to ask these questions and engage."
The trans-sports debate has become one of the most politically charged issues in women's athletics. The controversy has spilled into professional leagues as well, where players like WNBA guard Sophie Cunningham have faced backlash for speaking out in defense of women's sports, drawing support from the White House in the process.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina expressed disappointment but kept her tone measured.
"I'm also disappointed our Democratic colleagues left the room, because I think the risk of physical harm is real and has already happened."
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana struck a similar note, acknowledging Democrats' right to skip the hearing while making clear he found the decision telling.
"I'm a little disappointed that my Democratic colleagues left. It's their right, but I'm disappointed."
Polls from the New York Times, Quinnipiac, and Pew Research Center have found that more than 70 percent of Americans believe women's sports should not permit biological males to compete. That supermajority crosses party lines, which may explain why Democrats chose absence over argument. The issue has already initiated visible public protest in professional women's leagues, with fans and players alike demanding clearer protections.
President Trump signed an executive order to protect women's sports last February, and the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act has already been voted on in Congress, though its current status was not addressed at the hearing. California, Maine, and Minnesota have mounted legal challenges against the Trump administration's executive order. Meanwhile, 23 states still lack any rules prohibiting biological males from competing in women's sports.
The broader political context is hard to miss. With the 2026 midterms approaching, many Democrats have quietly distanced themselves from their earlier support for allowing trans athletes into women's competitions, without ever explicitly reversing course. The strategy appears to be avoidance: don't debate the issue, don't vote on record, and don't sit in the hearing room where cameras might capture an uncomfortable exchange.
That calculation has a cost. Democrats who once championed trans inclusion in women's sports now find themselves unable to defend the position in public and unwilling to abandon it on paper. It is a pattern familiar to observers of recent Senate standoffs, where Democratic leadership has opted for retreat over confrontation when the political ground shifts beneath them.
Wednesday's empty chairs told the story plainly enough. When the question was whether biological males belong in women's sports, ten Democratic senators decided the safest answer was not to show up at all.
