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CV NEWS FEED // The Trump administration announced the formation of a new federal task force Friday to defend female athletes in schools and enforce Title IX protections against gender ideology.
The new Title IX Special Investigations Team (SIT)—a joint effort between the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Justice (DOJ)—will investigate schools that allow males to compete in women’s sports or use female-only spaces.
“Today’s establishment of the Title IX SIT will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement.
“To all the entities that continue to allow men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities: there’s a new sheriff in town,” continued McMahon, a Catholic convert. “We will not allow you to get away with denying women’s civil rights any longer.”
In early February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing the federal government to cut funding from any educational program that fails to protect fair competition for women and girls.
“It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” the order reads, citing the “endangerment, humiliation, and silencing” of female athletes and the loss of their privacy.
Despite the order, several Democratic-led states refused to comply.
Trump directly confronted Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, in February, warning that Maine could lose federal funding if it continued to allow males in girls’ sports.
“I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money,” Trump said. “They are still saying we want men to play in women’s sports.”
Mills pushed back, calling the president’s actions unconstitutional. “If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding,” she said, “my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.”
The new task force is designed to act quickly, unlike traditional Title IX investigations, which often take months or even years.
“Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women’s sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women’s civil rights.”
Personnel for the SIT will include staff from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the ED Office of General Counsel, Student Privacy and Protection, and attorneys from the DOJ Civil Rights Division.
The move represents a sharp departure from the Biden administration’s Title IX policy, which redefined “sex” to include gender identity, extending federal protections to transgender students in sports, restrooms, and education programs.
