Republican Rep. Kat Cammack tore into Fox News reporter Chad Pergram for calling her pregnancy a 'problem' in a post about President Donald Trump's decision to keep Rep. Elise Stefanik in Congress.
'My pregnancy is a blessing - not "a problem." I am sure @ChadPergram didn't intend to offend, but this is a very real narrative pregnant women across the country face,' Cammack posted to X Thursday. 'Pregnant or not, I am more than capable of doing the job my constituents elected me to do.'
Cammack announced her pregnancy at the White House's Women's History Month event on Wednesday, with Trump calling the news 'great.'
In a long-winded X post Thursday, Pergram laid out why Cammack's absence could be a 'problem,' as the House under GOP-control doesn't currently allow for proxy voting and the Republicans are in the majority by extremely thin margins.
'One source told Fox that Republicans could be worried about losing ANOTHER GOP member if Cammack is unavailable for votes ahead of giving birth - as the House attempts to pass the "big, beautiful bill,"' Pergram wrote.
The post was meant to be an explainer for why Trump shockingly pulled Stefanik's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday, promising that she would be put back in House GOP leadership instead.
In a subsequent post on Fox News' website, Pergram didn't refer to Cammack's pregnancy as a 'problem' but instead referred to it as a 'parliamentary issue.'
Pergram, a longtime Capitol Hill correspondent, had explained the tricky math for Trump, as the president tries to get Congress to pass a mega-bill containing the White House's top priorities while Republicans control both houses.
Republican Rep. Kat Cammack announced her pregnancy at the White House's Women's History Month event on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump calling the news 'great'
On Thursday she blasted Fox News' Chad Pergram over a post in which he refers to her pregnancy as a 'problem,' due to the House having such a narrow GOP majority and after the Republicans nixed proxy voting
During the transition, Trump picked three GOP House members to serve in his administration - Stefanik at the U.N., Rep. Michael Waltz to serve as his national security adviser and Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
Gaetz quickly resigned from Congress but then pulled out of the confirmation process after Trump informed the Florida lawmaker he didn't have the Senate vote.
Gaetz also declined to be seated in the 119th Congress in January, despite winning reelection for his Florida seat in November.
Now the GOP is in a position where they fear 'losing one if not two of those special elections to succeed Gaetz and Waltz,' Pergram wrote.
'Plus, if Stefanik resigned, it would take about three months for a special election to hit in upstate New York to fill her seat. And - because of splintering in the New York GOP - there is concern that Republicans could lose that seat in a special election,' the Fox News Senior Blazing Proxies Congressional Correspondent continued.
'But Fox is told that the problem wasn't so much the potential of losing the special election in upstate New York - but when the VACANCY for that seat would come,' he continued.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had originally wanted the House to pass the 'big, beautiful bill' before Easter, but it appears likely that it will take longer than that.
'It frankly will take weeks if not a few more months to pass that bill,' Pergram wrote.
Rep. Kat Cammack gets a hug from a military member as she enters the White House's East Room on Wednesday. She surprised the crowd by announcing she was pregnant with a baby girl at the Women's History Month event
'Here's the other problem: Rep. Kat Cammack just announced this week she is pregnant and due in August,' he said.
There has been a push by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna for the GOP to allow expectant and new mothers to vote remotely.
House Republicans got rid of proxy voting when they took over the chamber in 2023.
Democrats had allowed for it amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pergram also illustrated just how tight the margins are for Republicans by outlining a scenario in which the Democrats could have flipped control of the House.
Had Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner and Raul Grijalva not died, and if Democrats won both Florida House seats and Stefanik had been confirmed for the U.N. post, the Democrats would control the House 218-217, Pergram wrote.
'And notably, the House has never flipped in the middle of a Congress,' Pergram said.
'This is why last Johnson pleaded last November for Mr. Trump not to poach any other Republicans from the House,' he noted.
Fox News declined to comment.
Elise StefanikFloridaPoliticsRepublicans
'My pregnancy is a blessing - not "a problem." I am sure @ChadPergram didn't intend to offend, but this is a very real narrative pregnant women across the country face,' Cammack posted to X Thursday. 'Pregnant or not, I am more than capable of doing the job my constituents elected me to do.'
Cammack announced her pregnancy at the White House's Women's History Month event on Wednesday, with Trump calling the news 'great.'
In a long-winded X post Thursday, Pergram laid out why Cammack's absence could be a 'problem,' as the House under GOP-control doesn't currently allow for proxy voting and the Republicans are in the majority by extremely thin margins.
'One source told Fox that Republicans could be worried about losing ANOTHER GOP member if Cammack is unavailable for votes ahead of giving birth - as the House attempts to pass the "big, beautiful bill,"' Pergram wrote.
The post was meant to be an explainer for why Trump shockingly pulled Stefanik's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday, promising that she would be put back in House GOP leadership instead.
In a subsequent post on Fox News' website, Pergram didn't refer to Cammack's pregnancy as a 'problem' but instead referred to it as a 'parliamentary issue.'
Pergram, a longtime Capitol Hill correspondent, had explained the tricky math for Trump, as the president tries to get Congress to pass a mega-bill containing the White House's top priorities while Republicans control both houses.
Republican Rep. Kat Cammack announced her pregnancy at the White House's Women's History Month event on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump calling the news 'great'
On Thursday she blasted Fox News' Chad Pergram over a post in which he refers to her pregnancy as a 'problem,' due to the House having such a narrow GOP majority and after the Republicans nixed proxy voting
During the transition, Trump picked three GOP House members to serve in his administration - Stefanik at the U.N., Rep. Michael Waltz to serve as his national security adviser and Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
Gaetz quickly resigned from Congress but then pulled out of the confirmation process after Trump informed the Florida lawmaker he didn't have the Senate vote.
Gaetz also declined to be seated in the 119th Congress in January, despite winning reelection for his Florida seat in November.
Now the GOP is in a position where they fear 'losing one if not two of those special elections to succeed Gaetz and Waltz,' Pergram wrote.
'Plus, if Stefanik resigned, it would take about three months for a special election to hit in upstate New York to fill her seat. And - because of splintering in the New York GOP - there is concern that Republicans could lose that seat in a special election,' the Fox News Senior Blazing Proxies Congressional Correspondent continued.
'But Fox is told that the problem wasn't so much the potential of losing the special election in upstate New York - but when the VACANCY for that seat would come,' he continued.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had originally wanted the House to pass the 'big, beautiful bill' before Easter, but it appears likely that it will take longer than that.
'It frankly will take weeks if not a few more months to pass that bill,' Pergram wrote.
Rep. Kat Cammack gets a hug from a military member as she enters the White House's East Room on Wednesday. She surprised the crowd by announcing she was pregnant with a baby girl at the Women's History Month event
'Here's the other problem: Rep. Kat Cammack just announced this week she is pregnant and due in August,' he said.
There has been a push by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna for the GOP to allow expectant and new mothers to vote remotely.
House Republicans got rid of proxy voting when they took over the chamber in 2023.
Democrats had allowed for it amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pergram also illustrated just how tight the margins are for Republicans by outlining a scenario in which the Democrats could have flipped control of the House.
Had Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner and Raul Grijalva not died, and if Democrats won both Florida House seats and Stefanik had been confirmed for the U.N. post, the Democrats would control the House 218-217, Pergram wrote.
'And notably, the House has never flipped in the middle of a Congress,' Pergram said.
'This is why last Johnson pleaded last November for Mr. Trump not to poach any other Republicans from the House,' he noted.
Fox News declined to comment.
Elise StefanikFloridaPoliticsRepublicans