The Trump administration has finalized a regulation to repeal the Biden-era Title IX rule and reinstate its own previous rule on handling sexual misconduct allegations in schools. The move aims to provide clarity on how educational institutions should respond to such reports, including specific procedural requirements and definitions of sexual harassment.
The finalization of this regulation could significantly alter how schools across the U.S. handle reports of sexual misconduct, impacting due process for students and survivors, and potentially leading to legal challenges over the rulemaking process.
The Trump administration has finalized a regulation that repeals the Biden-era Title IX rule and reinstates the Trump administration's original rule concerning sexual misconduct allegations in educational institutions. This move aims to clarify how schools should handle such reports, including requirements for formal hearings, witness examination, and definitions of sexual harassment.
The reinstated rule mandates that colleges conduct courtroom-like hearings and permits representatives for both alleged offenders and survivors to call witnesses and challenge evidence. It also altered the definition of sexual harassment and permitted a higher standard of proof in campus disciplinary proceedings compared to previous Obama-era guidance.
The Education Department has been operating under the initial Trump administration's Title IX regulation through guidance for nearly two years and has stated its enforcement of the civil rights law is based on biological sex. However, the administration's decision to bypass the typical notice-and-comment period for this revision could lead to legal challenges.
Education advocates have expressed a lack of clarity regarding the regulation's objectives during the review process. The unified agenda, a government list of regulatory plans, includes other proposed changes to the anti-sex discrimination law, such as formally defining sex based on biological sex in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump.
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