The U.S. Department of Education has formally ended Title IX regulations established by the Biden administration in 2024 that expanded the law’s definition of sex-based discrimination to cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Notably, these regulations were never fully implemented. In January 2025, a federal district court vacated the rule nationwide. After President Trump took office for his second term, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would revert back to the 2020 Title IX regulations. The department’s latest announcement declares that the 2024 regulations have been officially deleted from the Code of Federal Regulations.
“Today’s rulemaking clears the Biden administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX from the Code of Federal Regulations and restores the commonsense language promulgated in the first Trump administration, which we have been enforcing since the first days of the administration,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflects 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 of our women and girls.”
Critics of this decision claim removing the 2024 language will harm transgender athletes and could weaken protections for survivors of sexual assault.
In a press release, Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center, wrote, “While the administration is unlawfully eroding protections for trans students under the guise of ‘protecting women and girls,’ they are systematically weakening the very laws that keep students safe and schools accountable. ‘Protecting women and girls’ means not limiting Title IX protections based on students’ reproductive traits and anatomy and enforcing Title IX to make sure schools are inclusive spaces that provide equal educational opportunity for all students.”