Democrats seek to eliminate gendered terms in the House

The Democratic majority in the House has proposed sweeping changes to language used in the chamber, eliminating gendered terms including "mother" and "husband."

The proposed rule package seeks to “honor all gender identities” by striking words including “seaman,” “chairman,” “father,” “mother,” “sister,” “husband,” and “wife” from use and replacing them with gender-neutral terms including “seafarer,” “chair,” “parent,” “child,” and “sibling.”

The resolution, proposed Friday by Rep. James McGovern, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, will be voted on after the 117th Congress is sworn in on Sunday.

If passed, the package will also strike the use of “himself and herself” in favor of the term “themself,” and track the “diversity” of witnesses appearing before House panels.