Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appeared on Newsmax Saturday and praised a recent court decision vacating a Biden administration regulation that sought to redefine Title IX, describing it as a significant victory against federal overreach.
The Biden administration's Title IX rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students have been struck down nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they overstepped the president's authority.
In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was "fatally" tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges by Republican states.
Speaking on "Saturday Agenda," Skrmetti said, "We've seen so much regulatory overreach from the Biden administration. They've tried to rewrite all sorts of laws, but probably none more significant than Title IX, which is the law that prohibits discrimination against women in education."
Skrmetti warned of the sweeping changes the regulation could have brought to educational institutions nationwide.
"If this rule had gone into effect, you would have boys in the girls' locker rooms, boys in the girls' showers. You would have had schools required to punish people who used accurate pronouns because it would be a violation of the civil rights of people who wanted to pick their own pronouns," he said.
"So it would have been a radical change to schools across America, both primary and collegiate schools. The judge vacated the rule, which means it's like it never existed.
"People can't turn and point to the federal regulations as a basis for challenging these state laws that protect women's sports," Skrmetti said.
The Biden administration has hinted at introducing a separate sports-related regulation, according to the attorney general, who expressed concern that private litigants could still use the vacated rule to attack and enlarge state protections.
When asked about the court's rationale, Skrmetti commended the clarity of the decision.
"This is a beautiful, short, pointed opinion. The gist of it is the executive branch does not have the authority to rewrite the law.
"Title IX clearly talks about men and women and sex discrimination. If you're importing gender identity into that, that's different than what the law says; it's different than what the law means," he said.
"And it's an overreach for the Biden administration to try to redo the law without going through Congress."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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