Court Strikes Down Biden Title IX Rules Nationwide

Late last week, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky vacated the Biden Administration’s Title IX regulations in their entirety. Given that President-elect Trump is highly unlikely to pursue an appeal of the ruling, the 2020 Trump-era Title IX regulations are now in effect nationwide and are likely to remain so.

In a brief opinion accompanying his order, the judge echoed his earlier decision granting a preliminary injunction in the case, citing three reasons for ruling that the Biden regulations are unlawful. Specifically, the judge ruled that the Department of Education had exceeded its statutory authority under Title IX by expanding the definition of sex discrimination to cover LGBTQ students, that the regulations violate the Spending Clause and First Amendment of the Constitution, and that the rules constitute arbitrary and capricious agency action.

The full implications of the ruling for colleges and universities is not entirely clear at this time. For schools that are currently operating under the Trump Administration’s 2020 regulations as a result of an injunction, nothing should change.

Institutions operating under the Biden rules, however, will be forced to shift at least some of their policies once again. institutions should, if they wish, be able to maintain policies that do not conflict with the 2020 regulations, such as Biden rules around pregnancy discrimination. In contrast, policies that do conflict, such as many of the procedural requirements for disciplinary hearings, will have to be adjusted. What is not clear, however, is the effect of the ruling on complaints that institutions have already adjudicated or are in the process of adjudicating pursuant to the now-vacated 2024 regulations.

The Biden Administration’s final Title IX regulations took effect on August 1, 2024, but the rules were quickly halted in 26 states and at hundreds of institutions via preliminary injunctions issued in multiple court cases. Because President-elect Trump had promised to repeal the Biden Administration’s Title IX rules, the court’s ruling this week appears to obviate the need for a fresh round of rulemaking and to bring the legal wrangling over Title IX to a close, at least for the duration of President-elect Trump’s term.

For more information, please contact:
Jody Feder