More than 140 research papers written by Harvard researchers were authored in collaboration with Chinese universities known as the Seven Sons of National Defense, according to a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harvard-china-links-unearthed-congress-finds-140-papers-coauthored-ccp-military-universities">reported</a>. The Pentagon and other U.S. officials have identified those schools as central to China’s defense research and military modernization.
Lawmakers argue in the report that Harvard’s approach to research gave way to partnerships that could advance the technological and military capabilities of its biggest adversary.
“From allowing violence against anti-China protestors to collaborating with entities linked to the PLA [Chinese People&#8217;s Liberation Army], Harvard has made serious mistakes and must act now to prevent more,” said Committee Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI). “It should use this investigation as a catalyst for significant reforms that end CCP influence on campus and prioritize secure American research.”
Education Department data cited in the report show Harvard received more than $600 million from China under Section 117 foreign gift rules, more than any other American university. The committee says the volume of that funding raises the need for tighter oversight of research partnerships and disclosure practices.
<div>
One 2023 paper looked at bio-inspired soft robots for deep-sea exploration. A Harvard-affiliated researcher shared authorship with a scientist from Beihang University (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics), which has been on the Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2001.
While Harvard’s research compliance office described the project as nonmilitary research, lawmakers noted the project could help possible military applications, such as underwater detection. The paper was one of the examples the committee highlighted when examining Harvard’s collaborations with institutions linked to China’s defense research.
<section></section>
</div>
Another 2023 paper involved a researcher at China’s National University of Defense Technology, an institution on a U.S. restricted list. That study examined magnetic materials and acknowledged partial support from the U.S. Army Research Office.
Engineering accounted for the largest share of the Harvard-affiliated research involving Seven Sons institutions, the committee found after reviewing publications across dozens of disciplines.
Harvard said it “shares the Committees&#8217; concern about geopolitical risks, including threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party, and is committed to continuing to conduct research and academic programming with protections that prioritize U.S. interests and national security.”
“Harvard follows national security standards and guidance set by the federal government for its international collaborations,” a university spokesman said. “Additionally, where appropriate, federal agencies who are best able to assess real-time national security risks work with Harvard to put in place agency approved risk mitigation measures for federally funded research.”
The university added that it “disagrees with mischaracterizations that fail to reflect the university’s documented record of compliance, cooperation, and commitment to protecting and advancing U.S. interests, national security, and global standing.”
The committee also investigated Harvard’s executive education program with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, which trained Chinese health officials on international health insurance systems. 
Attendance and registration records listed officials connected to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or XPCC, in connection with some sessions. The Treasury Department sanctioned XPCC in 2020 over human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
The report acknowledges it is unclear whether XPCC officials ultimately attended every program in question. It states, however, that Harvard had advance participant information for a 2020 online session that included XPCC-affiliated officials and did not take further action. 
Harvard professor Winnie Yip, who helped organize the program, told committee investigators she did not know XPCC was a sanctioned entity at the time and had not received training on sanctions compliance.
Committee members argued that Harvard’s research security process stayed too focused on narrow legal compliance and underweighted broader national security risks of working with Chinese military-connected institutions. Harvard research official John H. Shaw told investigators the university reviews collaborations on a case-by-case basis and does not ban all projects with Chinese institutions. The panel, however, said that research with entities inside China’s military civil collaboration system can still have military applications even when the work is unclassified and intended for publication.
The report also raises questions about Harvard Global Research and Support Services, a nonprofit affiliated with the university that can accept awards when Harvard is unable to accept a sponsor’s terms directly. 
The report recommended that Harvard prohibit research relationships with entities on restricted or sanctioned lists and centralize its research security oversight. It also urged Congress to strengthen foreign funding disclosure requirements for universities.

Widener Memorial Library with Huge Veritas Banners Harvard University Cambridge MA

Ivy League Elite Quietly Collaborated With China’s Top Defense Universities

China

Department of Education

Harvard Univeristy

National Security

The Trump administration announced Monday that it is taking enforcement action against two public school districts accused of concealing students&#8217; gender identity information from parents, warning the districts could face lawsuits and the loss of federal funding for violating federal privacy law.
The Department of Education said it has partnered with the Justice Department to pursue enforcement against Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland. It also gave Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan until August 10 to explain why similar action should not move forward. 
The investigations center on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which guarantees parents access to their children&#8217;s education records. The Trump administration argues that school policies directing staff to withhold information about a student&#8217;s gender identity or social transition from parents violate those protections.
&#8220;As a mother and a grandmother, it is unconscionable that any school district would hide the most sensitive information about children in their care from their own parents,&#8221; Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/trump-administration-cracks-down-school-districts-secretly-transitioning-students-and-hiding-it-parents">statement</a>. &#8220;This is not only an affront to basic moral principles, but also to parents&#8217; rights under federal law.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, ED and DOJ are putting districts on notice that we will use every tool available to hold them to account for this egregious behavior,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Under the Trump Administration, ED and DOJ are working together to vigorously uphold parents&#8217; federal protections, and we will work to ensure that no parent is ever kept in the dark about important matters relating to their children.&#8221;
According to the Education Department, its Student Privacy Policy Office received complaints from parents in Anne Arundel County who discovered their daughter was being referred to by male pronouns at school. The parents said they learned about the situation only after receiving an email from school staff.
When the parents sought information about what the school described as their child&#8217;s &#8220;gender transition,&#8221; the principal allegedly refused to provide details while an assistant principal declined to turn over relevant records, prompting the federal investigation. The Education Department said Anne Arundel County improperly classified information about a student&#8217;s so-called &#8220;gender identity&#8221; as confidential medical information that could not be shared with parents. The agency said those practices unlawfully prevented parents from exercising their rights under FERPA.
The action comes weeks after the same parents <a href="https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/arundel-schools-transgender-children-policies-lawsuit-6BKCHH25O5HP7FLPPGNF7RQFWU/">filed a federal lawsuit</a> against the district with representation from America First Legal, the conservative organization founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The lawsuit claims school officials socially transitioned their daughter by using a masculine name and pronouns without notifying or obtaining consent from her parents. The Education Department said it is working with the Justice Department&#8217;s Civil Rights Division to pursue enforcement against the Maryland district, including potential judicial proceedings and termination of federal funding.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the administration intends to aggressively enforce the law. &#8220;School districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,&#8221; Dhillon said. &#8220;FERPA is not optional, and any districts that attempt to bypass or distort its requirements should expect immediate federal action.&#8221;
Additionally, the administration found Ann Arbor Public Schools&#8217; policy requiring employees to conceal a student&#8217;s &#8220;transgender status&#8221; from parents likely violates FERPA. Federal officials also questioned the district&#8217;s practice of maintaining records related to a student&#8217;s &#8220;gender identity&#8221; in a separate filing system. 
The Education Department said the cases build on a broader effort by the Trump administration to strengthen parental rights. Earlier this year, the department launched statewide investigations into policies that allegedly concealed students&#8217; &#8220;gender identity&#8221; from parents and issued a finding against the California Department of Education over the use of secret &#8220;gender support plans&#8221; and hidden student records.
In March 2025, the department sent a nationwide <a href="https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/Secretary_Comb_SPPO_DCL_Annual%20Notice_0.pdf">letter</a> reminding state education officials that concealing a child&#8217;s &#8220;gender identity&#8221; from parents was a priority enforcement issue under FERPA.
FERPA violations can ultimately result in the loss of federal education funding, though that penalty has historically been used sparingly.

Transgender Symbol and Pencils With The Color of Lgbt Flag

Trump Admin Takes Action Against School Districts Hiding ‘Transgender Status’ From Parents

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Division

Department of Justice

Gender Pronouns

Gender Transition

Harmeet Dhillon

LGBT

LGBTQ

Linda McMahon

Maryland

Michigan

Parental Rights

Parental Rights in Education

Pronouns

Public Schools

trans

trans kids

Transgenders

Transparency

Trump Administration

Today, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-additional-partnerships-strengthen-coordination-individuals-disabilities-programs-bolster-civil-rights">announced</a> four additional interagency agreements as part of the Trump administration&#8217;s broader effort to return education to the states.
In typical fashion, the teachers’ unions and their political allies immediately attempted to spread fear, claiming that federal protections are being eliminated, a claim with no basis in reality. Instead, it’s yet another strategic step to reduce unnecessary federal bureaucracy, improve services, and move education decisions closer to the students, families, and communities they affect most.
The first agreement establishes a partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Some opponents immediately claimed that students with disabilities would lose protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Yet IDEA predates the Department of Education, and nothing in this agreement alters the rights and protections guaranteed under federal law.
Instead, the partnership allows agencies that already serve individuals with disabilities to work more effectively together. Families often navigate multiple programs across multiple agencies. Better coordination can improve services while reducing administrative barriers.
<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-additional-partnerships-strengthen-coordination-individuals-disabilities-programs-bolster-civil-rights">According to</a> Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, “Through our partnership with HHS, we will align federal services with the goal of strengthening academic outcomes and supporting individuals with disabilities so that they can achieve greater independence, key life skills, and meaningful employment.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-additional-partnerships-strengthen-coordination-individuals-disabilities-programs-bolster-civil-rights">weighed in</a> on the agreement between agencies: “Together, we will improve education and employment outcomes, uphold the rights of individuals with disabilities, and help every child reach their full potential.”
The second agreement strengthens collaboration between the Department of Education&#8217;s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice. Protecting students from discrimination remains an essential federal responsibility, but effective enforcement does not require maintaining duplicative bureaucratic structures. By leveraging the expertise of both agencies, the partnership aims to strengthen enforcement while improving efficiency.
The third agreement focuses on student privacy and parental rights. At a time when parents across the country are demanding greater transparency and accountability from educational institutions, strengthening the enforcement of federal privacy laws should be welcomed. Parents have a right to access information about their children&#8217;s education and must be informed about decisions affecting their children.
The fourth agreement establishes a Training and Advisory Services Partnership with the Department of Justice related to school desegregation efforts and civil rights compliance. Rather than duplicating functions across multiple agencies, the agreement assigns technical assistance responsibilities to the agency with the greatest expertise in the field. Taken together, these agreements ensure that essential federal protections remain firmly in place while allowing agencies to work together rather than in silos.
The Trump administration continues to demonstrate that returning education to the states is not about rhetoric. Rather, it requires rethinking how government operates, eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, and ensuring that agencies are organized to better serve students.
Despite claims from the opposition, none of these agreements eliminate federal protections. Students with disabilities remain protected under IDEA. Civil rights laws remain fully enforceable. Student privacy protections remain intact. Parents retain their rights under federal law.
What changes is that the federal government becomes more focused on its core responsibilities while creating greater flexibility for states and local leaders to innovate and respond to the needs of their communities.
For decades, layers of education bureaucracy have accumulated while student outcomes have remained horrifically low. Despite massive federal spending and increasing administrative complexity, student learning results remain far below where they should be. On average, only three out of 10 public school children are learning to read or do math at grade level. Additionally, parents are dissatisfied and continue to demand greater transparency and responsiveness from schools, while employers report a lack of workforce readiness from graduates.
The problem is not a lack of federal involvement or funding. The problem is that the system has historically prioritized bureaucracy over real results. But the Trump administration is working overtime to change course by taking decisive steps to downsize the Department of Education and return it to the states where it rightfully belongs.
Contrary to naysayers, returning education to the states does not mean abandoning students or weakening essential protections. It means acknowledging a fundamental reality: states, local communities, educators, and parents are far better positioned than federal bureaucrats to make decisions about education. It also requires a serious reorientation of government — one that prioritizes students over systems, directs resources away from bureaucracy and toward classrooms, and ensures responsibilities are carried out by the agencies best equipped to deliver results.
The future of American education is moving away from Washington, D.C., and back to the states, and ultimately closer to communities, classrooms, and parents. These agreements represent real structural reforms that restore balance, reduce duplication and inefficiency, and strengthen the ability of those closest to students to focus on what actually matters — equipping every child to learn, achieve, and thrive.
***
<a href="https://www.discovery.org/p/ingraham/">Dr. Keri D. Ingraham</a> is a senior fellow at Discovery Institute, director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a senior fellow at Independent Women.

Students at Catholic school.

The New Department Of Education Agreements That Just Gave More Power To The People

DW Opinion

Teachers Unions

This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
***
American 13-year-olds read no better than teenagers in 1971.
That is the conclusion of the latest <a href="https://www.nagb.gov/news-and-events/news-releases/2026/ltt-results-released-061026.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)</a> long-term trend exam, the only national test the federal government has administered in the same form for more than half a century. After decades of reform efforts, new technologies, and a more-than-doubling of inflation-adjusted spending per student, our students are no better off.
Many will blame COVID-19. That was the dominant explanation when the last round of long-term trend results was released in 2022 and 2023. NAEP even saw fit to put it in the title: <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Reading and mathematics scores decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.&#8221;</a>
But that is the wrong takeaway. The decline didn&#8217;t begin with the pandemic. It began around 2012. Reading and math scores for 13-year-olds fell significantly between 2012 and 2020, and the 2020 test was finished before the pandemic shut down a single school. COVID accelerated the decline, but did not cause it.
The most important finding is not that average scores fell, but who fell.
For years, national averages hid a widening divide. The strongest students held their ground, while the weakest fell further behind. Among 13-year-olds, the gap between the highest and lowest quarter of students exceeds 50 points across both reading and math. That gap had been widening well before the pandemic.
The lowest-income 13-year-olds, the ones for whom reading is the best way out of poverty, still read below their 2012 level, 24 points behind their wealthier peers. Math is no better: they&#8217;ve fallen 16 points since 2012 and sit 31 points behind their peers. Neither subject improved between 2023 and 2025.
<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://manhattan.institute/subscribe?utm_source=DailyWire&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=reihan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here for more Manhattan Institute content.</a></h3>
This began back in 2012, when the <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/02/09/everything-you-need-know-waivers-flexibility-and-reforming-no-child-left-behind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obama administration began allowing states</a> to opt out of <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No Child Left Behind.</a> The law was unpopular and not perfect, but it forced schools to report results separately for poor, black, and Hispanic students. And it made schools face consequences — including replacing staff, removing the principal, or having the state take over the school — when any group fell behind. The waivers ultimately removed those consequences for 40 states, though the reporting remained. <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress then made</a> the retreat from accountability permanent in 2015, with broad support from both parties.
No national assessment can prove that No Child Left Behind caused the gains of the 2000s or that its rollback caused the declines that followed. But the timing is hard to ignore. The largest gains came when schools were required to report results for their poorest students and be held accountable for them. The decline set in after that requirement was lifted, and the students it was meant to protect are the ones still furthest from recovery.
Washington&#8217;s answer wasn&#8217;t to restore accountability. It was just to spend.
Congress spent <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$190 billion</a> to help schools recover from the pandemic, more than the federal government has ever spent on K-12 schools at once. The deadline to spend it <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/naep-scores-2024-education-covid-lockdowns-tests-schools-67dfbcac" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed in 2024</a>. For 9-year-olds, the money did bring progress, but those students are only back to where they were before the pandemic. For 13-year-olds, the money bought nothing. Their scores are exactly where they were two years ago.
Lately, the blame game has shifted to screens. American Federation of Teachers President <a href="https://www.aft.org/press-release/devices-down-eyes-hands-weingarten-calls-screen-bans-ai-limits-active-learning-major" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> recently pointed to devices as a major reason students are behind academically. She has a point. The share of 13-year-olds who read for fun almost every day has fallen by half since 2012, from 27% to 14%, and has remained at that level since 2023.
But screens cannot fully explain these results. Every state faces the same digital culture. Students everywhere carry the same distractions in their pockets. Yet some states keep outperforming the rest.
Smartphones and Chromebooks made teaching harder, but they didn&#8217;t make it impossible.
The more persuasive explanation is that schools became less focused on ensuring that their weakest students learned to read and do math. For one decade, Washington <a href="https://manhattan.institute/article/the-nations-report-card-is-out-heres-what-the-results-tell-us-about-americas-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">required schools to answer for their weakest students.</a> That decade coincided with some of the largest achievement gains ever recorded, especially among disadvantaged students. As <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/improving-education-outcomes-by-empowering-parents-states-and-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">education moves to the states</a>, the few exceptions to national declines are the states that measure every student, publish the results, and ensure accountability.
Washington didn&#8217;t lose track of its lowest performers. It just signed more than 40 waivers excusing itself from looking. This week, we learned what over a decade of not looking costs.
***
Jennifer Weber is a fellow for K-12 Education Policy at the Manhattan Institute.

Woman lifting large book cover

Teenage Literacy Is As Bad As It Was In The 1970s. What’s Going On?

COVID

Literacy

Smartphones

Testing

A North Carolina school district faces a Trump administration investigation after high school girls accused school officials of doing nothing after they complained about a transgender-identifying male invading their personal spaces. 
The Department of Education told Cabarrus County Schools on Monday that it had opened a Title IX investigation over complaints that biological male students had been allowed to access girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Students in the district for months have lambasted school officials for not keeping the spaces separated by sex. 
“The Complainants alleged that the District permits male students to access sex-segregated restrooms and locker rooms for female students and has failed to respond as required to reports of female students being sexually harassed by male students in school restrooms or locker rooms,” the Education Department wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. 
<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; border: 0; height: auto;" title="DW Player" src="https://public.dailywire.com/preroll-player/embed.html?playback-id=NJImACtyd8qr901jiXzUj00P9jus01iozN02&amp;ad-tag-url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubads.g.doubleclick.net%2Fgampad%2Fads%3Fiu%3D%2F61914415%2Fdw.video.article%26description_url%3Ddailywire.com%26url%3D%26tfcd%3D0%26npa%3D0%26sz%3D640x480%26min_ad_duration%3D5000%26max_ad_duration%3D60000%26gdfp_req%3D1%26unviewed_position_start%3D1%26vpos%3Dpreroll%26output%3Dvast%26plcmt%3D1%26env%3Dvp%26vpa%3Dclick%26vpmute%3D0%26impl%3Ds%26correlator%3D%5Bcachebuster%5D" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Trista Ruck, a student at Cox Mill High School, said that school officials dismissed her concerns about feeling uncomfortable with a male using the women’s bathroom. She said the principal told students the issue was &#8220;too political to address.&#8221;
“Our school is supposed to make every student safe, but we get ostracized when we discuss this with adults who are supposed to ensure the safety and comfortability at school,” she said in April. “Personally, I try to avoid the restrooms at all costs, but I do use these facilities at times when I really have to.”
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights will probe whether the district’s policies discriminate based on sex by denying female students access to private intimate spaces. 
To comply with the investigation, the department asked the district to provide documents on its policies related to “gender identity” and any complaints it received from girls about males in their spaces. 
School officials downplayed concerns from parents and students and previously <a href="https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/viral-claim-that-boy-tried-to-watch-young-girl-in-school-restroom-is-false-cabarrus-county-school-district-says/275-e53d0323-7532-4438-901b-79ca4c0ceaec">said</a> it is constrained by laws, stating that “schools may not discriminate against students by denying them access to the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity.”
The Education Department investigation comes after Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC) wrote a letter on May 7 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congressman-urges-trump-admin-to-intervene-after-high-school-girls-say-spaces-invaded-by-boy">urging action</a> against the district. 
“If my daughters were speaking up, I would want leaders in the community to act. It took a lot of courage for these girls to stand up and speak out,&#8221; McDowell told The Daily Wire. &#8220;There appears to have been confusion at the local level about how Title IX protections apply to girls in our schools. I look forward to the Department providing clarity and restoring common sense.&#8221;
The Trump administration said the investigation was part of its efforts to recognize June as “Title IX Month.” 
“Today’s investigation demonstrates that the Trump Administration will not stop pursuing Districts that reportedly subject our women and girls to egregious violations of their privacy and safety,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey. “Under the Trump Administration, no woman or girl will have to fight alone to secure her basic protections, and we will not relent until Title IX is restored to the fullest extent of the law.”

Public shower room with shower cabins. A large, empty public shower room with bright walls. Toilet and locker room of a swimming pool, sports club and fitness center, school, college, dorm or hostel. The concept of hygiene and healthy lifestyle.

Trump Admin Steps In After Female Students Raise Alarm Over School’s Trans Policy

Female Students Raised Alarm Over School's Trans Policy. Trump Admin Now Taking Action.

North Carolina

Title IX

Transgender

A Republican congressman is pushing the Trump administration to investigate a North Carolina high school after female students complained that a biological male has been using the women&#8217;s locker room, according to a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire. 
Rep. Addison McDowell wrote a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1036268220/Title-IX-Letter-to-OCR">letter</a> on Thursday calling on the Education Department to investigate Cox Mill High School in Cabarrus County for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/principal-tells-girls-to-go-somewhere-else-if-theyre-uncomfortable-with-boys-in-their-bathrooms">reportedly allowing</a> a boy to access intimate female spaces. He urged Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey to review a parental complaint filed on April 17 claiming the school violated a female student&#8217;s Title IX privacy rights. 
“I was profoundly concerned to learn of reports that the school is allowing biologically male students to enter women’s restrooms and locker room facilities on school property,” McDowell wrote. “As a father of three girls and one on the way, and the Representative for the Sixth Congressional District of North Carolina, I remain committed to working to protect women and girls and preserving their civil rights for generations to come.”
The Trump administration has interpreted Title IX as protecting the right of girls to access private, single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms. 
In recent months, students and parents have asked the Cabarrus County School Board to adopt policies ensuring female-only spaces at the high school. School officials have downplayed concerns from parents, saying some claims about incidents involving the transgender student are false. 
The district previously <a href="https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/viral-claim-that-boy-tried-to-watch-young-girl-in-school-restroom-is-false-cabarrus-county-school-district-says">said</a> it was constrained by a law that mandates “schools may not discriminate against students by denying them access to the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity.”
McDowell said the district must step up to ensure students&#8217; privacy. 
“It is the bare minimum for schools to ensure a safe learning environment, and schools owe students’ parents a guarantee that the school is taking every available measure to protect the health and safety of kids,” he said. “The policy that the school district has adopted is in direct opposition to these principles.”
On Tuesday, the organization NC Values <a href="https://x.com/NCValues/status/2051752454035824984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a video featuring Trista Ruck, a junior at Cox Mill High School, who said she had seen a male in the girls&#8217; bathroom. 
&#8220;I encountered a male in the female restroom. I walked straight to the restroom, did my business, and then whenever I went to go wash my hands, he walked in,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He then just looked at me, and then went about his business, but honestly, I felt uncomfortable. Why would I want someone who has different parts than me in the same bathroom as me?&#8221;

Rep.-elect Addison McDowell

Congressman Urges Trump Admin To Intervene After High School Girls Say Spaces Invaded By Boy

The Trump administration opened an investigation on Monday into a historic all-women’s college that admits gender-confused men.
The Department of Education confirmed in a <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Office-for-Civil-Rights-Case-Number-01-25-2398-Smith-College-Parshall-Perry-5-4-26.pdf">letter</a> that it had launched a probe into whether Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, was violating Title IX. The investigation comes almost one year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-womens-college-breaking-the-law-by-admitting-trans-identifying-men-complaint">after</a> watchdog organization Defending Education filed a civil rights complaint over its transgender policies. 
“The complaint alleges that the College, one of the largest women’s colleges in the United States, discriminates against women on the basis of sex by admitting males who identify as women (‘self-identified transgender women’) and by permitting male students to use intimate facilities designated for women,” the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights wrote in a letter on Monday to Defending Education. “[The Office of Civil Rights] is opening the complaint for investigation.”
The office will determine whether there are any merits to Defending Education’s complaint, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-womens-college-breaking-the-law-by-admitting-trans-identifying-men-complaint">first reported</a> on by The Daily Wire in June 2025. 
The complaint said that the school violates federal policy by allowing males who identify as females to take the place of females in admissions. Smith College only admitted about 22% of applicants for the 2024-2025 school year. 
The stated policies make it clear that the historically all-women’s college allows men to enter so long as they identify as transgender. The decision to admit males was first made in 2015 after Smith <a href="https://www.smith.edu/president-kathleen-mccartney/letters/2014-15/admission-policy-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> a year-long study group on the topic. 
“People who identify as women — cis, trans, and nonbinary women — are eligible to apply to Smith,” the college <a href="https://www.smith.edu/your-campus/offices-services/equity-inclusion/gender-identity-expression">explains</a>. “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.”
Smith also says that it has an “all-gender locker room in the athletic facilities” and is working on making more multi-stall “all-gender” bathrooms. 
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry said she looked forward to the department&#8217;s investigation. 
&#8220;Smith College has a longstanding reputation as a women&#8217;s college of exclusive excellence. But that hasn&#8217;t prevented it from falling victim to the fiction of &#8216;transgender&#8217; womanhood,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Admitting men who feel like women means that the institution — formerly one of the nation&#8217;s prestigious &#8216;Seven Sisters&#8217; all-women&#8217;s colleges — is no longer for women only.&#8221;

A brick wall sign with SMITH COLLEGE.

Top Women’s College Admitted Gender-Confused Men. Now The Feds Are Involved.

Massachusetts

Guidelines at the University of Washington allowing gender-confused men to use women’s bathrooms violate federal law, according to a civil rights complaint obtained by The Daily Wire.  
A <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/UWashDEComplaint043026.pdf">complaint</a>, filed Thursday by Defending Education, accused the university of violating Title IX regulations that protect single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and changing areas. 
It points to university <a href="https://hr.uw.edu/diversity/transgender-resources/transgender-resources-for-uw-employees/">policies</a> stating that individuals are allowed to use facilities in line with their “gender identity” rather than their biological sex. 
“The University of Washington eschews these longstanding and unequivocal principles through its administration of dedicated LGBTQ scholarships, its bathroom facility policies that open private spaces to anyone on the basis of self-professed gender identity, and its pronoun policies that punish students for recognizing biological reality,” said the <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/UWashDEComplaint043026.pdf">complaint</a>, which was first obtained by The Daily Wire.
Defending Education called for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate the university.
The complaint cites a university document called “Transgender Resources for UW Employees,” which <a href="https://hr.uw.edu/diversity/transgender-resources/transgender-resources-for-uw-employees/">states</a> individuals are “welcome to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms aligned with your gender or whichever choice you are most comfortable with.” It also references a university webpage that <a href="https://hss.washington.edu/building-management/all-gender-restrooms/">lists</a> “all-gender restrooms.” 
“This presumably forces female UW students who attend class in the building to share bathrooms with male students, employees, and even guests,” the complaint said. 
&#8220;The UW is committed to following federal law and will respond through appropriate channels if we are contacted by the DOE,&#8221; the University of Washington told The Daily Wire. 
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry told The Daily Wire that the policies directly conflict with guidance from the Trump administration, interpreting Title IX as requiring sex-separated private spaces. 
“The University of Washington — like too many other institutions of higher education in blue states — is engaged in what can only be described as a standoff with the Administration over the meaning of civil rights law,” she said. “Despite unambiguous federal language in Title IX, its implementing regulations, and related executive guidance, UW believes that ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ are the same. They most assuredly are not, and the Supreme Court has never held otherwise.”
The complaint also highlights the university’s overall promotion of transgender activism, including <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/safcom/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FY-26-Award-Q-Center.pdf">funding</a> a center that <a href="https://qcenter.washington.edu/services/engender/">provides</a> free “tucking underwear” and “stand to pee” devices.
Defending Education filed the complaint the same day it launched its new Center for Litigation and Legal Policy, which will focus on filing administrative complaints, submitting legal briefs, and tracking developments in education-related law and policy. 
Perry told The Daily Wire the center would be “dedicated to identifying civil rights and civil liberties violations wherever we find them on campuses across the country.”

Major University Slapped With Civil Rights Complaint In Trans Bathroom Showdown

University of Washington

WASHINGTON—The Department of Education has found the California Department of Education guilty of violating the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act for its policies pressuring school officials to conceal information about student gender identity.
The news marks the latest instance of Gavin Newsom&#8217;s California defying federal guidance from the White House on the issue of transgenderism. Posied for the next presidential election, Newsom has attempted to present himself as a moderate on the issue, but his state continues to be a radical outlier.
An investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) found that California&#8217;s polices, laws, and practices created &#8220;powerful state directed pressure&#8221; for schools to adopt policies that led to FERPA noncompliance, effectively forcing schools to withhold information from parents, violating FERPA, which gives parents the right to access their children&#8217;s educational records.
For example, one California law explicitly bans schools from requiring parents to be informed of their child&#8217;s &#8220;gender transition.&#8221;
“Our investigation found that the California Department of Education egregiously abused its authority by pressuring school officials to withhold information about students’ so-called ‘gender transitions’ from their parents,&#8221; explained Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
McMahon blames California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and his &#8220;failed leadership&#8221; for the matter, saying that under his watch, school personnel have even bragged about facilitating ‘gender transitions,’ and shared strategies to target minors and conceal information about children from their own families.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1035013" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/news/california-violated-federal-law-by-hiding-childrens-gender-transitions-education-department-finds/president-elect-trumps-nominees-for-upcoming-administration-meet-with-lawmakers-on-capitol-hill-7" rel="attachment wp-att-1035013"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035013" class="wp-image-1035013 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2189084812.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee to be Secretary of Education Linda McMahon arrives in the Russell Senate Office Building on December 09, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;While the Biden Administration turned a blind eye to this deprivation of parental rights and endorsed the irreversible harms done to children in the name of radical transgender ideology, the Trump Administration will fight relentlessly to end it,” she promised. “Children do not belong to the state — they belong to families. We will use every available mechanism to hold California accountable for these practices and restore parental rights.”
During a press call with reporters, a senior Education Department official shared that the investigation found a systemic problem of schools maintaining secret records of child gender support plans. That official told The Daily Wire that the investigation also uncovered that a number of administrators were soliciting AERIES, a student information software system, to find ways to hide gender information from parents via the parent portal used to register children for classes.
California has been offered the opportunity to &#8220;voluntarily resolve its FERPA violations&#8221; by sending a notice to all school administrators and superintendents. That notice should, among several items, let school officials know that &#8220;gender support plans&#8221; and similar documentation are education records under FERPA and subject to parental inspection, that there is no &#8220;unofficial records&#8221; exception to FERPA and none of the state&#8217;s laws should be interpreted to undermine federal law — and that violations of FERPA may cause the California education system to risk loss of federal financial assistance.
Emails dating back to 2022 show staff in California discussing changing students&#8217; names without their parents&#8217; knowledge, using different names for children in front of their parents, and even overriding the &#8220;Parent Portal&#8221; to choose what parents could or could not see, according to the Education Department.
<div id="attachment_1035017" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/news/california-violated-federal-law-by-hiding-childrens-gender-transitions-education-department-finds/day-three-of-world-economic-forum-wef-2026-4" rel="attachment wp-att-1035017"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1035017" class="wp-image-1035017 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2256933619.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Gavin Newsom during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
At least 300 students in the state were put on &#8220;Gender Support Plans&#8221; in 2025, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/04/15/exclusive-blue-state-schools-facing-trump-admin-investigation-helped-hundreds-of-kids-change-their-gender-last-year/">The Daily Caller News Foundation reported,</a> and many of those children were put on these plans without parental knowledge or consent.
In one particularly alarming case that the Education Department shared, a mother sued her daughter&#8217;s school after she found out that school officials had convinced her young daughter to identify as a transgender boy. School officials told the girl not to tell her mother and helped the girl to learn how to make chest binders, restricting her chest so that she would look flat-chested.
School administrators told the mother that they could not tell her about all of these goings-on due to their &#8220;parental secrecy policy,&#8221; the Education Department said.
Schools that followed FERPA and refused to hide gender issues from parents were &#8220;aggressively targeted&#8221; by California, the Education Department investigation found. When Chino Valley Unified School District’s school board adopted a parental notification policy in July 2023, state officials acted quickly to put an end to the policy, saying that children have a constitutional right to &#8220;privacy from their parents&#8221; — and that telling parents about their child&#8217;s gender identity issues might cause the child to suffer.
The Education Department has repeatedly asked the California Department of Education to issue guidance clarifying that parents have a right to see “gender support plans” under FERPA, but the California Department of Education has repeatedly refused these requests, though it says in grant agreements that it will follow federal law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 BREAKING: Ben Shapiro grills California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) over whether he believes that girls cannot become boys and boys cannot become girls
Newsom refuses to answer the question
Newsom says: &#8220;Yeah, I just, well, uh, I think, uh, I&#8217;m for the grace of God. Yeah.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/w0Gc7cKvec">pic.twitter.com/w0Gc7cKvec</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanSaavedra/status/2011956634466099656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
The move comes only two weeks after Newsom sat down for an interview with The Daily Wire&#8217;s Ben Shapiro, one in which Shapiro grilled the governor about whether he believes that girls can actually become boys, or boys can actually become girls.
Newsom refused to directly answer the question, ultimately telling Shapiro: &#8220;Yeah, I just, well, uh, I think, uh, I&#8217;m for the grace of God. Yeah.&#8221;

Day Three Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

California Violated Federal Law By Hiding Children’s Gender Transitions, Education Department Finds

California

The Department of Education referred its Minnesota transgender athletes investigation to the Justice Department on Monday, a major step toward pulling funding for the Democrat-run state&#8217;s education and high school sports agencies.
Minnesota has so far refused to negotiate with the Trump administration on the issue after the federal government found that the state violated Title IX by allowing boys to compete against girls. Now, Minnesota is close to losing its federal funding from the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, The Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/01/26/minnesota-trump-administration-title-ix-education-department-health-human-services/">reported</a>. The DOJ referral comes as the Trump administration targets Minnesota in its immigration enforcement operation and over allegations of massive fraud.
&#8220;As Minnesota reels from a fraud scandal, @GovTimWalz is fighting to keep men in women’s sports,&#8221; Education Secretary Linda McMahon <a href="https://x.com/EDSecMcMahon/status/2015868775153782813">wrote</a> on X. &#8220;Now, he’ll have to make his case in court.&#8221;
The Education Department and HHS <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-and-us-department-of-health-and-human-services-find-minnesota-violated-title-ix">said</a> last September that their investigation found the Minnesota State High School League was in violation of Title IX by allowing boys who identified as girls to compete against girls in high school sports. Minnesota was the center of a sports controversy last spring when a male pitcher <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/girls-softball-team-sparks-outrage-after-suspected-male-pitcher-leads-them-to-state-tournament">dominated</a> the girls&#8217; state softball tournament. The Trump administration also said that Minnesota allowed boys to compete against girls in Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, lacrosse, track and field, and volleyball.
The Minnesota Department of Education has argued that Title IX &#8220;requires schools provide transgender students with the right to participate in…athletics in a manner consistent with their gender identity&#8221; and that “transgender and gender nonconforming students should be afforded the opportunity to use the restroom of their choice&#8221; &#8212; positions that directly contradict the Trump administration&#8217;s interpretation of the law.
“Despite repeated opportunities to comply with Title IX, Minnesota has chosen defiance – continuing to jeopardize the safety of women and girls, deny them fair competition, and erode their right to equal access in educational programs and activities,” McMahon told The Daily Caller.
&#8220;The Trump Administration will not stop until accountability is delivered for Minnesota’s students,” she added.
Minnesota leftist Attorney General Keith Ellison <a href="https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2025/04/22_EO_TitleIX.asp">sued</a> the Trump administration over the president&#8217;s executive order on keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports, arguing that the Trump administration is &#8220;bullying vulnerable children.&#8221; Ellison said last year that Trump does not have the authority to override Minnesota state law that allows trans-identifying athletes to compete in sports categories that match their gender identities.
Trump signed an executive order in February banning boys and men from competing against female athletes, threatening to strip federal funding from states that don’t obey the order. The Trump administration has also gone after Maine and California for violating Title IX protections for women and girls.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

Trump Admin Moves Closer To Yanking Federal Funding For Minnesota Over Trans Athletes Probe

Donald Trump

Minnesota

Social Issues

Transgender Athletes

U.S.

The university that produced Nathan Hale, one of America&#8217;s earliest and most revered heroes, apparently can’t tell the difference between men and women. 
A civil rights complaint filed Thursday by the watchdog group Defending Education accuses Yale University of violating Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order protecting women from radical gender ideology. The <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Yale-OCR_letterhead_1.22.26.signed.pdf">complaint</a>, first obtained by The Daily Wire, alleges that the historic institution does not take sufficient steps to ensure that women are able to have privacy in their bathrooms without intrusion from gender-confused men.
“Yale University is one of the United States’ most prestigious educational institutions. It also happens to be one of the largest recipients of federal funding of any institution of higher education in the country,&#8221; Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry told The Daily Wire. &#8220;But despite its rich history and longstanding prestige, Yale seems content to follow the path of its woke sister ivies in prioritizing gender identity over biological sex, in apparent violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.&#8221;
The complaint was filed with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights and alleges that the university’s bathroom policies violate Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination at federally funded institutions. 
Defending Education wants the Education Department to step in and ensure that women have access to their own bathrooms at Yale. 
“Yale’s bathroom policies likely violate Title IX because they provide male and gender-neutral bathrooms on some coed undergraduate dormitory floors without also providing female bathrooms on the same dormitory floors,” the complaint filed by Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry says. “Yale has converted many campus bathrooms into ‘gender inclusive’ bathrooms.”
According to a map <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?ll=41.31882761989977%2C-72.94422212541701&amp;z=13&amp;mid=19iHelKu2YL3A7smpJmerSSuVfD-Ohr4">posted</a> by the university, Yale has dozens of “all gender” bathrooms throughout its sprawling New Haven, Connecticut, campus. Some of these “gender inclusive” bathrooms are located in residential buildings. 
“With bathrooms designated as women’s, men’s, or gender-inclusive, students have the autonomy over their living arrangements and can prioritize roommate choice without worrying about bathroom location,” Yale <a href="https://housing.yale.edu/undergraduate-housing/room-draw/additional-resources">notes</a> on its website. “Students can be assured that a suitable bathroom will be accessible within their college, even if it’s not on their specific floor.”
This appears to indicate that some dormitory floors have male and “all gender” bathrooms, but not female bathrooms. This is confirmed by a “Trans@Yale Survival Guide” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20251213175155/https://sites.google.com/yale.edu/transatyalesurvivalguide/survival-guide/bathrooms">that states</a> “most bathrooms throughout Yale&#8217;s housing facilities are gender-neutral and shared amongst students in any given entryway.”
Defending Education said in its complaint that they believe this violates President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/">executive order</a> cracking down on transgender ideology and Title IX guidance from the administration. 
The complaint also took issue with Yale’s interpretation of Title IX and its policies toward “gender identity.” For example, Yale’s “Policy Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct” <a href="https://oiea.yale.edu/frequently-asked-questions">treats</a> gender-identity as a protected class. Yale’s Title IX office also responds to claims of both “sex- and gender-based discrimination.” According to Defending Education, Title IX should only apply to sex discrimination. 
&#8220;Yale is attempting to have its cake (nearly $900 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2024), and eat it too (by instituting bathroom, harassment, and non-discrimination policies that pick sides on the gender identity debate). Too much federal funding is at stake to ignore malfeasance and bad legal takes like Yale&#8217;s,&#8221; Perry told The Daily Wire.
The Biden administration attempted to include gender-identity as a protected class under Title IX, but was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-blocks-bidens-title-ix-rules-that-allowed-men-in-womens-sports">rebuffed</a> by the Supreme Court. That came after dozens of Republican-led states challenged the policy.

cti072325yalenontaxable

Historic University Accused Of Violating Trump’s Transgender Policy

Bathrooms

Yale University

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is probing the California Community College Athletic Association over allegations that its transgender policy violates Title IX, The Daily Wire can first report.
The Title IX Special Investigations Team, a joint project of the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, has initiated an investigation into the association over its policy stating that “a trans[gender] female&#8230;or non-binary student-athlete who has completed at least one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment&#8230;may compete on a women’s team.”
That policy caused at least three female athletes to be discriminated against on the basis of sex, according to a complaint submitted to the Office of Civil Rights, since a male athlete was allowed to participate on the women&#8217;s volleyball team and use the women&#8217;s locker rooms at one of the member colleges during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
“The fact that a Community College Athletic Association has a ‘Transgender Participation Policy’ is a stunning indictment of our culture,&#8221; said Kimberly Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights. &#8220;Women’s sports are for women. Yet California’s Governor Gavin Newsom — despite admitting the truth on a podcast — continues to put ideology above the safety of and fairness for his own students.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1028413" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-admin-probes-california-association-for-violating-trans-policy/us-justice-sports-transgender-lgbtq-discrimination" rel="attachment wp-att-1028413"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1028413" class="wp-image-1028413 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255538637-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255538637-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255538637-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255538637-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255538637.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks outside the US Supreme Court on January 13, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
The complaint also alleges that the California Community College Athletic Association ignored female students&#8217; when they raised concerns about the impact that male students have on female sports.
DOJ and the Education Department say that the association has an obligation to uphold Title IX&#8217;s sex-based protections, given that it receives federal financial assistance in California.
&#8220;The Trump Administration will not tolerate policies that erase women’s rights,”says Richey. “The Title IX SIT looks forward to investigating this matter to ensure every woman has equal access to educational programs and athletic opportunities—because fairness and safety are non-negotiable.”
DOJ and the Education Department created the Title IX Special Investigations Team in April 2025 in order to expedite enforcement of its investigations into incidents like this. In fact, the team&#8217;s first investigation was actually into the California Department of Education.
Richey&#8217;s comments about Newsom referenced the California governor&#8217;s remarks on the issue of fairness in women&#8217;s sports: in March 2025, when Charlie Kirk was a guest on Newsom&#8217;s podcast, Newsom distanced from the notion that men should be in women&#8217;s sports — something he has championed for years — calling the concept &#8220;deeply unfair.&#8221;
“Would you say no to men in female sports?”Kirk asked the California governor.
“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that,” Newsom responded. “It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair.”
The remark caught many politicos and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle by surprise, given that Newsom has celebrated his state&#8217;s law allowing boys in girls&#8217; sports, and additionally celebrated when conservative groups failed to repeal that very law.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases dealing with men in women&#8217;s sports and spaces, West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox. The results of the cases will decided whether 27 states can keep laws in place protecting women’s privacy in bathrooms and other spaces.
&#8220;As we await the Supreme Court’s rulings in Little v. Hecox and State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., we remain steadfast in enforcing Title IX as it was intended, rooted in biological reality to ensure fairness, safety, and equal access to education programs for women and girls across our nation,&#8221; Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said on the steps of the court on Tuesday.
&#8220;As President Trump has made clear,&#8221; she added, &#8220;America is in its Golden Age, one where female students and athletes have equal access to fair and safe competitions and female-only intimate spaces, free from divisive and discriminatory ideologies.&#8221;

Screenshot 2026-01-15 at 11.41.12 AM

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Probes California Association For Trans Policy

Gavin Newsom

Menu