Federal judge halts Biden’s Title IX reform, citing ‘abuse of power

A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked the Biden administration’s Title IX overhaul for four states, calling the rewrite a “threat to democracy” and an “abuse of power.”

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty issued a preliminary injunction Thursday to the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules, which changed the definition of sex to include “gender identity,” which many critics argue will result in the shuttering of sex-specific spaces such as restrooms in schools.

“This case demonstrates the abuse of power by executive federal agencies in the rulemaking process,” Doughty wrote. “The separation of powers and system of checks and balances exist in this country for a reason.”

The judge said the phrase “gender discrimination” was limited to biological males and females when Title IX was enacted and that the expansive changes to the definition of sex sought by the Biden administration were inadmissible, writing the law “was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination.”

He also determined that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which expanded the definition of sex discrimination to include claims of transgender identity in Title VII employment law, does not apply to Title IX. The Biden administration has been relying on the reasoning in Bostock to expand definitions of sex across federal law, and there currently exists a split at the federal circuit court level as to whether it can apply to Title IX.

“This is a big win for women’s rights. This decision will keep young women and girls protected from dangerous situations, just as Title IX has done for decades,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, said in a statement. “In issuing the rule, President Biden abandoned scientific reality, put women’s rights at risk, and overstepped his authority.”

Montana joined Louisiana in its challenge to the new rule, along with Idaho and Mississippi.

The lawsuit, which includes counsel from the Defense of Freedom Institute, was the first in the country to challenge the Title IX overhaul, but more than two dozen states have pending lawsuits challenging the rules. Bob Eitel, president and co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute, said in a statement that he anticipates other courts will come to the same conclusion as Doughty.

On top of the sea of lawsuits trying to stop the Title IX rewrite before it goes into effect Aug. 1, at least five states have said they will refuse to comply with the new rules, with some state superintendents telling local school districts not to make any changes using the new rule.

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Dr. Cade Brumley, the Louisiana state superintendent of education, was one of the first in the country to direct school districts not to comply with Title IX.

“Judge Doughty’s ruling supports the well-established original intent of Title IX, protects children,
and restores equal opportunity for women and girls,” Brumley said in a statement. “Louisiana will always stand up against an abuse of power by a federal agency.”