Education Department rolls back Biden’s Title IX rule, reinstates Trump-era regulations

EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Department of Education is officially repealing the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced in an interview with OutKick.

McMahon said this action reinforces the administration’s position that girls’ and women’s sports should be reserved for women.

“We just recognize that boys and men are in boys and boys’ sports and girls are in theirs,” McMahon told OutKick.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the department is officially rescinding Biden’s 2024 Title IX rule and reinstating the 2020 regulatory text. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The action reinstates the 2020 regulatory text in the Code of Federal Regulations. Courts had already struck down the Biden rule, and the department announced in January 2025 that it would implement regulations from the first Trump administration.

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OutKick asked McMahon what this step accomplished, given that his department already enforces these rules.

“Well, it just gives clarity to students, teachers, schools and parents,” she said. “Everyone now knows what the rule is and how everyone is going to respect it.”

When asked if schools were facing new obligations or deadlines, McMahon said they would have to return to Trump-era rules. She did not identify a new compliance deadline.

“Title IX was created to give everyone, including women, an equal opportunity to play sports. And then, under the Biden regulations, many of those rights were taken away,” McMahon said. “And so now it’s just gone back to Title IX as it was originally intended.”

The Biden administration’s 2024 rule expanded Title IX protections against sex discrimination to include gender identity. Its separate proposal regarding sports team eligibility was withdrawn in December 2024.

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by female athletes, signs the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room of the White House February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The Trump administration has continued its interpretation of Title IX through investigations, funding restrictions, and referrals to the Justice Department.

As OutKick reported, the Departments of Education and Justice announced the creation of the Title IX Special Investigation Team on April 4, 2025.

The federal government also filed a lawsuit against Maine over the state’s policy allowing trans-identified men to compete in women’s sports.

Asked about the implications for states like Maine, California and Minnesota, McMahon described the department’s use of repayment requirements for funding recipients designated as high-risk.

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“That means they don’t get their funding up front. They have to show us receipts,” McMahon said. “So we can confirm that they are spending the money appropriately.”

She also cited her department’s referral of the Maine case to the Justice Department.

“So there are many different types of consequences that can come to states and schools that fail to comply with Title IX,” she said.

McMahon also addressed the recourses available to female athletes who have already lost records, titles or opportunities.

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She pointed to the University of Pennsylvania’s agreement with the department, reported by OutKick in July 2025. That agreement required Penn to restore the records and titles of female athletes and issue an apology following Lia Thomas’ participation on the women’s swim team.

“Not only was an apology made, but the titles were then awarded to the women who had rightfully won,” McMahon told OutKick.

Lia Thoma’s NCAA swimming records were revoked after the University of Pennsylvania reached an agreement with the Trump administration that transgender athletes will not be able to play in women’s sports on July 1, 2025. (Getty Images)

When asked if Penn’s agreement provided a framework for other cases, McMahon said the department would look at each circumstance individually.

For parents whose daughters must compete against a male athlete or share a locker room with another, McMahon advises raising the issue with school officials, including the superintendent, and reporting it to federal authorities. She did not specify how quickly the ministry could intervene.

On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld Idaho and West Virginia laws restricting girls’ and women’s sports to women.

Asked about the legal path to requiring gender-based eligibility in women’s sports nationwide, McMahon pointed to Title IX itself.

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“Well, it’s Title IX. That’s exactly why Title IX was created,” she said. “It’s in the law, it exists, it’s a law and it must be obeyed.”