by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) — The Trump administration has formally removed the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX regulations from the federal rulebook, restoring the 2020 regulations and moving forward with a federal definition of sex based on biological male and female classifications.
The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it had formally rescinded the Biden-era rule, which had expanded Title IX protections to include discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The Biden regulation had already been vacated nationwide by a federal district court in January 2025 following extensive litigation.
“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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.
The Education Department has also moved toward explicitly defining “sex” for Title IX enforcement as an individual’s “immutable biological classification as either male or female,” according to the federal regulatory agenda.
The policy has significant implications for schools and universities receiving federal funding, particularly concerning women’s athletics, bathrooms and locker rooms. The Education Department says Title IX protects female students’ access to sex-separated facilities and athletic competition limited to biological females.
The Biden administration had taken a broader interpretation. Its 2024 rule stated that sex discrimination included discrimination based on “sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
The Trump administration began enforcing the 2020 regulations shortly after returning to office in 2025, following the federal court ruling that vacated the Biden rule. Monday’s action formally removes the Biden regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
