The U.S. House Rules Committee voted 8 to 3 along party lines in favor of a joint resolution that would reverse the Biden Administration’s recent expansion of protections for LGBTQ students, pregnant students and survivors of sexual assault in higher education.
House Joint Resolution 165 is a piece of legislation that would roll back the protections the Biden administration announced this spring to reverse former President Donald Trump’s 2020 Title IX rules. The Trump policies made it harder to report sexual assault and sexual harassment.
The Biden rules which expand protections for LGBTQ students, survivors of sexual assault and pregnant students are scheduled to go into effect on August 1.
The joint resolution would also ensure that Biden could not alter Title IX nor could a future administration be able to revisit the rules, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat representing Virginia, said.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, said during the hearing that she applauds the new Biden rules to expand protections for students. Leger Fernández is a member of the House Rules Committee.
She said that Trump’s Title IX rules “made it easier for predators to harass and attack our student athletes.” She detailed Trump’s recent lawsuits in which he was ordered to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll for defamation after she alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her decades ago.
“He was found guilty of sexual assault. How can we expect him to protect women from sexual assault?” she asked.
A jury in a civil trial found Trump liable for sexual assault.
Leger Fernández said the legislation is an attack on women students, LGBTQ students, and especially transgender students.
