Trump Administration Uses Education Department to Challenge Transgender Sports Policies in Colorado

President Trump’s 2025 order declared that any federally funded school program that limits women’s one outlet opportunities should lose funding, prompting the Education Department to target districts that allow transgender participation in girls’ sports. The department charged Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado with violating Title IX by permitting male students to use female bathrooms, locker rooms, and compete on girls’ teams, and threatened a referral to the Justice Department and a $50 million funding cut.

Jeffco’s policy, aligned with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, treats facility use according to each student’s gender identity and asserts that no transgender girls are on its teams, noting that the reported male participants are managers and mascots. The district sued Secretary Linda McMahon and the Education Department to obtain judicial guidance on the clash between federal directives and state law. Critics argue the administration is weaponizing the department rather than pursuing its promised abolition, especially after approving a larger budget for the agency.