Federal Judge Vacates Biden’s Title Ix Rule

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.

Congress’ top Republicans on the committees overseeing education lauded the ruling. Lawmakers in both chambers have tried to repeal the regulation.

“With President Trump and a Republican majority in Congress, we will ensure women and girls have every opportunity to succeed on the field and in the classroom,” said Senate HELP Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who backed a measure to overturn the rule.

In the House, Education and Workforce Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said the rule “would have undermined safety, freedom, and fairness for women.”

“Today marks an enormous win for women and girls across America,” he said in a statement.

The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment. But Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon defended her Title IX regulation on Wednesday, calling previous rulings blocking it in several states “absurd” and expressing concern about the courts.

“We published the most comprehensive Title IX regulation since 1975 — I love it. I think it’s amazing,” Lhamon said Wednesday. “It has been enjoined in multiple lawsuits in multiple states across the country, in total, which is absurd. ... I don’t think that augurs well for a set of courts who are eager to be fully responsive to the civil rights guarantees that we have long had.”