WASHINGTON – Prominent members of the Republican Party, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, sharply criticized the Biden administration's final rule on Title IX on Wednesday.

As the fate of a key Biden administration plan to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in schools hangs in the balance, Republicans at the state and federal levels are stepping up their efforts to block the measure from being implemented.

“As you know, the Department of Education … has tried to rewrite Title IX, and it's having devastating consequences. That's a concern for all of us,” Johnson said during a panel discussion at the U.S. Capitol on “Protecting Title IX and Women's Sports” to mark the 52nd anniversary of its passage.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, and Congress is not just sitting around,” Johnson added, noting that the House of Representatives will soon vote on legislation to repeal the final rule.

The speaker is from Louisiana, one of ten states that have so far blocked the government's final rule on Title IX from coming into effect on August 1.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the final rule from taking effect in the state, as well as in Idaho, Mississippi and Montana.

Separately, Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky also temporarily blocked the final rule in the Bluegrass State, as well as in Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education confirmed that both rulings have been appealed. The agency has “asked the courts to allow the majority of the final rule to go into effect in those states on August 1 as planned while the appeals are pending.”

Republican attorneys general from 26 states have rushed to challenge the Biden administration's final rule, with states joining forces to oppose the new rule. Attorneys general from some states, such as Texas and Oklahoma, have sued the administration individually.

Regulation issued in April

In April, the U.S. Department of Education released its final rule on Title IX, which “protects against discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”

Part of the final rule also “promotes accountability by requiring schools to take prompt and effective action to end, prevent recurrence, and remedy the effects of any discrimination based on sex in their educational programs or activities,” the department said.

The updated regulations would roll back controversial changes to Title IX that DeVos oversaw during her tenure as education secretary under the Trump administration and that formed a key part of her legacy. Interest groups fought the Trump administration's rule for years.

“It's time to go back to the original intent of Title IX and put common sense back in charge,” DeVos, who is also former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, said during the panel discussion.

Also participating in Wednesday's panel discussion were Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, and Heather Higgins, chair of the conservative Independent Women's Forum.

Gaines, who competed for the University of Kentucky, is a leading voice in the fight against transgender athletes' participation in sports that correspond with their gender identity.

Vote expected in the House of Representatives

A measure to prevent the rule from being implemented is up for a vote in the full House after the House Education and Workforce Committee passed legislation in early June that would repeal the rule under the Congressional Review Act, a procedural tool that allows Congress to overturn certain actions by federal agencies.

Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican from Illinois and vice chair of the committee, introduced the bill, which already has the support of more than 70 GOP co-sponsors.

Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, said Miller's resolution on the Congressional Review Act would “roll back these new rules from the Biden administration that undo most of the work done under (Education) Secretary DeVos, which was extraordinarily thoughtful and well done.”

Republicans have also stepped up their efforts in the Senate. In early June, US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi introduced a bill that would block the final regulation using the same procedural tool. More than 30 of Hyde-Smith's Republican colleagues are co-signatories.

Regardless of whether attempts to block the measure in the House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled Senate are successful, President Joe Biden is likely to veto it.

LGBTQ+ advocacy group speaks out

“Sadly, it is no surprise that Speaker Johnson and MAGA Republicans are once again attacking transgender children,” said David Stacy, vice president of government affairs for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, in an emailed statement to States Newsroom.

Stacy said that during her tenure as Secretary of Education under Trump, DeVos “rolled back protections for LGBTQ+ students and did nothing to ensure they were safe from bullying, harassment and discrimination in school.”

“Every student has a right to be safe and respected in school, but Johnson and DeVos clearly don't care. All they have to offer the American people are cruel and cynical political attacks that are a desperate attempt to save their dysfunctional majority in the House of Representatives,” Stacy added.

Ministry of Education defends rule

A Department of Education spokesman said the agency had “developed the final Title IX regulations following a rigorous process to give full effect to Title IX's legal guarantee that no one will experience sex discrimination in federally funded education,” reiterating an earlier statement.

The spokesman reiterated that all schools receiving federal funds are required to comply with the final rule in order to receive those funds.

The department has not yet adopted a separate rule establishing new criteria for transgender athletes.