U.S. Senators Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) today led a group of 19 Republican senators in issuing a clear rebuke of U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s proposed changes to Title IX and condemning the Biden administration’s plan to force schools to allow biological males to compete against females.
Mullin and his colleagues submitted a comment to Secretary Cardona in response to his department’s proposed rule change, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams.”
“Congress made clear that its intention in passing Title IX was to prohibit discrimination against women participating fully in all aspects of athletic and academic opportunity at institutions that received federal financial assistance,” wrote the senators. “This proposed rule uses weakly-associated case law and polarizing social concepts to broaden the definition of women and girls to include individuals who identify as women, and in so doing, the intent of the law is destroyed and women are marginalized yet again.”
The full comment submitted by the senators can be found here.
In addition to Mullin and Tuberville, the comment submitted to Secretary Cardona was signed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Risch (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Barrasso (R-WY), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Tedd Budd (R-NC), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA).
BACKGROUND
Last year, on the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s enactment, the U.S. Department of Education issued a proposed rule to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. The final rule is expected to take effect during the 2023-2024 school year.