Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has launched a major investigation into 18 states and the District of Columbia for policies that allow males to compete in women’s sports — policies he says violate both federal law and basic fairness.
At the center of the probe is whether these states are defying Title IX’s original intent. President Trump’s Executive Order reaffirmed that intent by directing federally funded schools to protect opportunities for women and girls and maintain fairness in athletics. According to Cassidy, these states have chosen to ignore that directive.
The states under investigation include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia. Many of these states have enacted policies that not only permit males to compete in women’s sports, but also allow male athletes access to women’s locker rooms and restrooms — raising safety and privacy concerns for female students.
“As Chairman, it is my priority to ensure women and girls have every opportunity to succeed on the field and in the classroom,” Cassidy wrote. “This means ensuring that states receiving federal financial assistance for educational programs comply with federal law and federal agency directives.”
Cassidy’s action continues his long-standing push to defend Title IX from what he and many Republicans describe as an ideological overhaul by the Biden administration. In previous hearings, the HELP Committee documented the emotional and competitive toll on female athletes forced to compete against biologically stronger male competitors. Athletes testified to the mental stress, fear and loss of opportunities they endured.
Last Congress, Cassidy led efforts urging the Biden administration to reverse its sweeping rewrite of Title IX, which attempted to redefine “sex” to include gender identity — effectively forcing women’s sports to open to males nationwide. He introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution, co-sponsored by 34 Republicans, to overturn the rule. A federal judge later found the Biden rule unconstitutional.
Cassidy’s latest investigation signals a renewed effort to restore the protections and fairness Title IX was created to guarantee. As more female athletes step forward and more judges strike down radical reinterpretations of the law, pressure is mounting on states to justify policies that critics say erase decades of progress in women’s athletics.
The HELP Committee is now demanding answers — and compliance — from every state receiving federal education dollars.
