Watchdog urges feds to rescind Biden’s Title IX rule

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

Defending Education, a nonprofit, has urged the U.S. Department of Education to rescind the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule that expanded sex discrimination protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation.

Defending Education submitted a letter on Wednesday to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Deputy Attorney General Eric Hamilton, requesting to revoke the rule, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.”

This follows a 2025 ruling from a federal judge that struck down the Biden administration’s Title IX rule, stating that it exceeded its authority by expanding sex discrimination protections under the 1972 law to include LGBTQ+ individuals.

Defending Education Letter

In its letter, Defending Education argued that the rule conflicted with the statutory language of Title IX and raised constitutional concerns.

“[T]he rule is unconstitutional, as it would compel students and faculty to use preferred pronouns rather than biologically accurate language, forcing them to endorse a message about sex and gender with which they disagree,” the letter stated. “The Biden rule radically altered the regulatory framework of Title IX and did violence to the law’s plain text.”

President Donald Trump has directed multiple agencies to remove statements and policies that promote gender ideology. “[T]here is no greater purveyor of gender ideology currently in the Federal Register than the Biden Administration’s Title IX rule,” the letter added.

Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and senior legal fellow at Defending Education, said the organization believes the rule should be formally withdrawn following the court’s decision.

“In 11 federal litigation challenges to the rule, the Biden Administration lost every single time,” Perry said in a statement. “Now that the last of the cases has been resolved, and Defending Education has secured its own victory against the rule, it is high time for the regulation to be sent to the dustheap of history. Doing so will prevent another lawless administration from taking liberties with the plain text of a law designed to protect women and girls on campuses across the country.”