A federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule nationwide, crushing its efforts to strengthen discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The ruling: Eastern District of Kentucky Court Chief Judge Danny Reeves in an order Thursday said the regulation on Title IX, the federal law that bars sex-based discrimination, is unlawful. He said the rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and violates the spending clause and the First Amendment, among other issues.
“This is a huge win for Tennessee, for common sense, and for women and girls across America,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office next week.”
Key context: The rule took effect in August after a lengthy rulemaking process that drew hundreds of thousands of public comments. The regulation drew praise from civil rights advocates and LGBTQ+ groups while prompting a strong rebuke from Republican lawmakers and conservative organizations.
The Biden administration has touted its regulation as the “most comprehensive coverage” students would receive in the nearly half-century of Title IX. It was also an overhaul of the first Trump administration’s rule that mandated how schools must respond to sexual misconduct.
Dozens of states sued against the rule. Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia argued in their lawsuit in April that the Biden administration rule would punish them for state laws that restrict transgender student participation in women’s sports, hinder the First Amendment rights of students and staff, and bar schools from enforcing their policies to “protect student privacy.”
Reeves, who was highly critical of the Biden administration’s rule in his preliminary injunction over the summer, has said the department exceeded its authority when it issued a regulation that “conflicts with the plain language of Title IX.”
The ruling comes as the Biden administration is set to end in a matter of days. And it’s unlikely that the incoming Trump administration will fight to uphold the Title IX regulation in court.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Congress are teeing up measures to restrict transgender student participation in sports and aiming to codify that sex under Title IX means sex assigned at birth. The GOP-led Congress is working quickly to deliver on President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises that targeted transgender students participating in women’s sports.
The ruling: Eastern District of Kentucky Court Chief Judge Danny Reeves in an order Thursday said the regulation on Title IX, the federal law that bars sex-based discrimination, is unlawful. He said the rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and violates the spending clause and the First Amendment, among other issues.
“This is a huge win for Tennessee, for common sense, and for women and girls across America,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office next week.”
Key context: The rule took effect in August after a lengthy rulemaking process that drew hundreds of thousands of public comments. The regulation drew praise from civil rights advocates and LGBTQ+ groups while prompting a strong rebuke from Republican lawmakers and conservative organizations.
The Biden administration has touted its regulation as the “most comprehensive coverage” students would receive in the nearly half-century of Title IX. It was also an overhaul of the first Trump administration’s rule that mandated how schools must respond to sexual misconduct.
Dozens of states sued against the rule. Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia argued in their lawsuit in April that the Biden administration rule would punish them for state laws that restrict transgender student participation in women’s sports, hinder the First Amendment rights of students and staff, and bar schools from enforcing their policies to “protect student privacy.”
Reeves, who was highly critical of the Biden administration’s rule in his preliminary injunction over the summer, has said the department exceeded its authority when it issued a regulation that “conflicts with the plain language of Title IX.”
The ruling comes as the Biden administration is set to end in a matter of days. And it’s unlikely that the incoming Trump administration will fight to uphold the Title IX regulation in court.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Congress are teeing up measures to restrict transgender student participation in sports and aiming to codify that sex under Title IX means sex assigned at birth. The GOP-led Congress is working quickly to deliver on President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises that targeted transgender students participating in women’s sports.
