SCOTUS denies White House lawsuit over new Title IX rule

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday denied the Biden administration’s request to begin partial implementation of its controversial new rule interpreting Title IX, the landmark women’s rights law, after lower courts in 25 states put it on hold. The court’s 5-4 ruling means that the new regulations remain completely on hold in about half of the country. The White House had sought temporary stays allowing some parts of its new rule  to take effect while legal challenges played out at lower courts. Friday’s opinion dealt with the parts of the new rule supposed to protect pregnant students or students who are parents and the procedures schools must use for responding to complaints of sexual misconduct.

What parts of the new rule were left out of the lawsuit? The most controversial parts of the Biden administration’s new regulation—its newfound protections for LGBTQ students from the 1972 statute—were not part of the lawsuit. Those also remain blocked in about half of the country by lower courts’ orders. 

How exactly did the court rule? Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the three liberal justices in dissent. The court wrote in its majority opinion that the government hadn’t proven that the different parts of the Biden administration’s new rule could be legally separated. A minority opinion written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the court could have tailored a response to some of the Biden administration’s concerns.

Dig Deeper: Read Catherine Gripp’s story about how states are standing up to the Biden administration’s redefinition of sex discrimination.