Nearly 700 schools across US could be under Title IX injunction

A federal injunction on the Biden administration's Title IX overhaul may soon extend far beyond the four states involved in an initial lawsuit, and nearly 700 schools across 48 states will likely be affected by the order.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Kansas blocked the implementation of the new Title IX rules written by President Joe Biden 's Department of Education , which changed the definition of sex to include gender identities. Critics say the move could effectively shut down sex-specific accommodations, such as allowing women to have their own restrooms that exclude men.

U.S. District Court Judge John W. Broomes's order , which blocked Title IX implementation for Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, also blocked the new regulations for the members of private organizations that challenged the Biden administration in the same suit. Earlier this week, those organizations, which include the Young America's Foundation, Female Athletes United, and Moms for Liberty, submitted a list of schools their members attend.

More than 670 colleges and universities, spread across 48 states and some territories, were on that list and are now likely covered by the injunction.

While several judges have put the regulations on hold in 15 states and another 11 states are awaiting adjudication on their challenges, 364 of the colleges now likely under the injunction are located in states not currently challenging the regulations, according to Inside Higher Ed.

While Broomes has not signed off on the list of schools covered by the injunction, there do not appear to be many legal avenues for schools to challenge being listed because the requirement for inclusion appears to be just that a single member of the organizations on the lawsuit attends the school.

Moms for Liberty and YAF had been recruiting based on the ruling, telling parents and students who go to school in Democratic-controlled states such as California and New York that they have the power to stop Title IX at their schools by joining their organizations. The recruitment deadline for being part of the injunction was Monday.

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The Biden administration is both attempting to limit the reach of the injunction and appealing the decision to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in the case are arguing that any limitation on the order would "create an untenable situation" in which some members of the organizations would not be protected by the order while others would be.

The Title IX regulations are set to go into effect on Aug. 1, but the legal framework has been muddied by the lawsuits. Many of the challengers anticipate the regulations will be thrown out by the Supreme Court if it decides to take the case, particularly with Chevron deference having been overturned last month . That sort of deference could have given the Department of Education the ability to claim it has interpretive power over the meaning of the Title IX statute.