The Trump administration launched a new investigative unit to protect “female athletes, from the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities” on Friday, further clamping down on transgender women in school sports and sending a warning signal to states defying the president’s executive orders.
The Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the Title IX Special Investigations Team (SIT) to handle cases, particularly targeting transgender women in sports, because “traditionally, our Office for Civil Rights [OCR] takes months, even years, to complete Title IX investigations,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Friday.
“OCR under this Administration has moved faster than it ever has, and the Title IX SIT will ensure even more rapid and consistent investigations,” McMahon said. “To all the entities that continue to allow men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities: there’s a new sheriff in town. We will not allow you to get away with denying women’s civil rights any longer.”
The team, drawn from both agencies, will implement a rapid process to handle the growing number of cases to hand over investigations to potential DOJ enforcement. McMahon said the Title IX unit “will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities.”
“Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday. “This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women’s sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women’s civil rights.”
The unit comprises investigators and attorneys from the OCR, DOE Office of General Counsel, and the DOE Office of Student Privacy and Protection, along with caseworkers and an FSA Enforcement investigator. The unit also includes attorneys from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
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The investigative unit will enforce Title IX protections with President Donald Trump’s executive orders on “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” and “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism.”
The unit comes as Trump has been facing pushback from both lawmakers and judges for his gender-related orders.
Trump and Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills sparred in February over Trump’s order banning biological males from women’s sports. During a National Governors Association meeting, Trump accused Mills of defying federal orders by continuing to allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports. Following the confrontation, the Trump administration launched investigations into Maine’s education department.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also froze funds to certain educational programs in Maine due to the state’s rebellion. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins indicated the funding freeze could be lifted if Maine aligns with federal interpretations of Title IX.
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Trump’s Title IX unit comes after the Biden administration updated Title IX regulations in 2021 and 2022 to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students, interpreting the law’s prohibition on sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Under then-President Joe Biden’s interpretation, transgender students were protected in sports, bathrooms, changing room facilities and in other educational programs.
