Staff Reports
The recent Supreme Court decision to overrule Chevron's deference spells big trouble for the Biden administration’s attempt to overhaul Title IX. Democrats’ efforts to twist Title IX’s straightforward language into a convoluted, gender-identity-inclusive mess have been dubious from the start. But with Chevron now out the window, their already shaky defense has all but collapsed.
The Biden administration has been pushing a redefinition of sex under Title IX to include gender identity, effectively obliterating sex-specific facilities in schools, such as restrooms and locker rooms. With the overturning of Chevron, the administration likely lost its primary weapon to defend this controversial reinterpretation of the civil rights law. Legal experts, like those at the Heritage Foundation, believe the Supreme Court now guarantees success for challengers against these progressive overreaches.
How end of Chevron deference could hurt Biden Title IX overhaul https://t.co/SjXEOCCJMH
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 2, 2024
Twenty-six states have already challenged the Department of Education’s Title IX overhaul in court, with ten lawsuits successfully blocking the changes. Chevron's deference previously allowed executive agencies to mold ambiguous statutes to their whim, but this safety net has been withdrawn. Now, the courts will judge if any agency has overextended its reach rather than deferring to these agency interpretations.
Organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom have been vocal opponents of the Biden administration’s Title IX redefinition. They argue that the new rules would have weaponized Chevron to enforce harmful policies on women and girls, such as making them compete against biological males or compelling speech by forcing the use of inaccurate gender pronouns. Chevron's deference, according to ADF, would have facilitated these damaging agendas.
Even judges are not buying into Biden’s radical interpretation. U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, while blocking the new Title IX rules in several states, emphasized that the agency had no authority to alter the statute's clear language. Given the Supreme Court’s recent track record of striking down Biden administration overreaches, including vaccine mandates and eviction moratoriums, it’s clear that the judiciary is no longer in the mood to play along with executive branch shenanigans.
The Supreme Court’s dismantling of Chevron's deference marks a shift back toward holding the executive branch accountable at a time when such accountability is sorely needed.
