Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on Wednesday that transgender women are not permitted to use bathrooms in the Capitol that match their gender identity, taking a stance on the hot-button issue that has overtaken the Capitol in recent days.

The policy — which Johnson announced in a public statement, a draft of which was first reported by The Hill — will also apply to bathrooms in House office buildings, changing rooms and locker rooms. It is unclear when he plans to publish the comments.

Under House rules, the Speaker has “general control” of facilities in the chamber, giving him the authority to issue the policy surrounding bathrooms.

“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said. “It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”

“Women deserve women’s only spaces,” he added.

Johnson’s statement — which was made on Transgender Day of Remembrance, recognized annually to memorialize trans people who lost their lives to anti-trans violence — comes days after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a bill to bar transgender women from facilities on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity, a response to the election earlier this month of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.).

McBride will be the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

Johnson’s plan to publicly announce his policy comes after the Speaker sidestepped specifics when asked about McBride earlier this week, and refused to say if he would put Mace’s bill in the House rules package for the 119th Congress.

“I’m not going to address the plans on any of that. I just told you what I’m going to say about the issue. I’m not going to engage in this,” Johnson said at his press conference. “We don’t look down upon anyone. We treat everybody with dignity and respect. That’s a principle that I’ve pursued my whole life, and we will take care of this issue of first impression for congress as we will any other thing. We’ll provide appropriate accommodation for every member of congress.”

In a statement hours later, the Speaker told reporters “for anyone who doesn’t know my established record on this issue, let me be unequivocally clear: a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

“That said, I also believe that’s what scripture teaches, what I just said, but I also believe we treat everybody with dignity. We can do and believe all those things at the same time,” he added.

McBride blasted Mace’s legislation earlier this week, calling it “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”

“We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care and child care, not manufacturing culture wars,” McBride said. “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Johnson’s decision to formally announce the new policy came after Mace was threatening to force a vote on the matter. The congresswoman wanted the terms to be included in the rules package for the 119th Congress and said she would force a vote on the bill if that did not come to fruition.

Updated at 12:34 p.m. EST