MRC Free Speech America update summary: On Jan. 9, 2025, Kentucky U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves struck down the Biden administration’s Title IX rules after over a dozen Republican-led states challenged the Biden administration’s unconstitutional overreach. The decision has been appealed. The Trump administration made clear via a Jan. 31, 2025 “Dear Colleague” letter that Education Department policy “will return to enforcing Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses.”
The following article is a supplement to the MRC Report: The Biden Administration Waged War on Free Speech with 57 Censorship Initiatives.
Initiative #46: The Elimination of Title IX Dispute Free Speech Protections
Type of Censorship: Policy or Rulemaking
Agencies Involved:
- Department of Education
- Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
- Executive Office of the President
- White House Office
Summary:
The Biden administration dismantled the free speech protections President Donald Trump’s Department of Education had instituted.
Prior to Biden’s administration, Secretary Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education underwent a complex rulemaking process through the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) to issue detailed guidance protecting due process requirements in Title IX disputes. These regulations contained strong protections for “free speech” rights.
The DeVos free speech rules corrected the chaos triggered by a “Dear Colleague” letter sent by an Obama administration lawyer, Cathy Lhamon, which — without following the APA guidelines — directed schools to err on the side of accusers in Title IX disputes. Lhamon’s directive had a strong chilling effect on campus speech, as even the most spurious of accusations could be used to expel students or destroy careers.
Within weeks of taking office, Biden issued an executive order demanding the Education Department eliminate the DeVos regulations protecting due process. To complete this work, he nominated — and the senate confirmed — Lhamon to run the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Lhamon and the Education Department then issued new regulations eviscerating the free speech protections Biden’s predecessors had instituted under the APA.
Key Individuals:
- Joe Biden, President of the United States
- Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education
- Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff
- Cathy Lhamon, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights
