The U.S. Department of Education is rescinding the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule and restoring the regulatory text from 2020, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced in an interview with OutKick.
“We’re just acknowledging that boys and men are in boys and men’s sports and girls are in theirs,” McMahon said.
Courts had already struck down the Biden rule, and the department said back in January 2025 it would enforce the original Trump-era regulations. McMahon said this formal rescission removes any ambiguity.
“Well, it just gives clarification to students, teachers, schools, parents,” she said. “Everyone now knows what the rule is and how everyone is going to abide by it.”
McMahon did not announce a new compliance deadline for schools, saying only that they should operate under the Trump-era rules.
“Title IX was set up to give everyone, including women, equal opportunity to sports. And then under the Biden regulations, many of those rights had been taken away,” she said. “And so now this is just returned to Title IX as it was originally intended.”
What Changed Under Biden, and What’s Being Undone
The 2024 Biden rule had expanded Title IX’s sex-discrimination protections to cover gender identity. A separate Biden-era proposal specifically addressing eligibility for athletic teams was withdrawn in December 2024.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has enforced its reading of Title IX through investigations, funding restrictions and referrals to the Department of Justice. The Education and Justice departments launched a Title IX Special Investigations Team on April 4, 2025. The federal government also sued Maine over its policy allowing male athletes who identify as female to compete in girls’ sports.
Consequences for States Out of Compliance
Asked what happens to states like Maine, California and Minnesota that continue allowing biological males in girls’ sports, McMahon pointed to funding restrictions.
“What that means is that they don’t get their funding in advance. They have to produce receipts to us,” she said. “We therefore can confirm that they are spending the money in ways that it should be spent.”
She also cited the department’s referral of the Maine case to the Justice Department. “So there are many kinds of consequences that can come to states and schools that are not abiding by Title IX,” McMahon said.
Restoring Records to Female Athletes
McMahon pointed to the University of Pennsylvania’s agreement with the department, reported in July 2025, as an example of what accountability looks like. That deal required Penn to restore records and titles to female athletes and issue apologies stemming from Lia Thomas’ participation on the women’s swimming team.
“Not only were apologies extended, but the titles were then given to the women who had rightfully won,” McMahon said.
She said the department would evaluate other cases individually rather than apply the Penn agreement as a blanket template.
For parents whose daughters are forced to compete against a male athlete or share a locker room with one, McMahon advised going first to school officials, including the superintendent, and then reporting the matter to federal authorities. She gave no timeline for how quickly the department could respond.
The Legal Backdrop
On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia restricting girls’ and women’s sports to females. Asked about the legal basis for requiring sex-based eligibility in girls’ sports nationwide, McMahon pointed to the statute itself.
“Well, it is Title IX. That is exactly why Title IX was established,” she said. “It is in law, it exists, it’s a statute, and it should be obeyed.”
