Education Department Formally Repeals Biden-era Title IX Rule
by Aaron Gifford, The Epoch Times.com, September 29, 2026
The Department of Education on Sept. 28 formally rescinded a Biden administration Title IX regulation that sought to broaden federal sex discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The rules, released in 2020, governed how schools should investigate allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.
In 2024 and 2025, multiple federal courts invalidated President Joe Biden’s 2024 Title IX rules, which ultimately led to all remaining litigation concerning Biden’s policy on transgender ideology being dismissed.
However, remaining litigation was not resolved until August 2026, the Education Department said, so the Department was unable to formally rescind the regulation until now.
In the statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the new rulemaking restores commonsense language that Trump has been enforcing since the first days of his administration.
“Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflect court orders and congressional intent—reducing confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions. We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy, or athletic opportunities for our women and girls.”
Expanding Title IX was among Biden’s 2020 campaign promises. His regulations, which took effect four years later, broadened the definition of sex discrimination.
It also removed the 2020 rule under the first Trump administration that required, for instances of sexual assault on university campuses, accusers to be examined and cross-examined in an adjudicatory process.
McMahon said the Biden administration also investigated school staff for using “incorrect pronouns” or failing to ask students to declare a preferred gender.
In April, Trump canceled agreements that his predecessor had with five public school districts and one college, ending monitoring and enforcement actions that Biden initiated after the former president’s investigation determined that the schools violated his Title IX regulations, which Trump says are illegal.
Trump has also investigated state agencies and schools in California, Maine, Washington state, and Minnesota for Title IX violations, many of them related to continuing to allow biological males who identify as transgender to participate in female sports.
At the college level, the University of Pennsylvania and Wagner College reached agreements with the federal government to establish sex-separated sports and intimate facilities, and restore to females their titles, records, or honors “misappropriated to male athletes.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association now prohibits biological males from participating in female sports, as does the International Olympic Committee. In high school sports, however, regulations are set by state legislatures or high school athletic league governing boards. Complaints about Title IX infractions in Maine, California, Vermont, and Washington are still making their way to the Oval Office.
Many investigations are ongoing. State departments of education and interscholastic athletic organizations in Minnesota and California have been referred to the Department of Justice for enforcement action after those entities refused to enter into resolution agreements with the federal government following findings of Title IX violations, the Department of Education’s statement said.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group, issued a statement opposing Trump’s policy change, saying that dropping the new rules into place without a public comment period is a “monstrous injustice.”
“We know who will be hurt: women, girls, and others who are vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault, and abuse—including LGBTQ+ students,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a Sept. 28 statement.
