On Thursday, President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order aimed at aiding in his ultimate goal of dismantling the Education Department—satisfying one of his top campaign promises and following in the footsteps of several Republican presidents who have sought to weaken or end the agency altogether.
The move raises questions about how, or if, the federal government will continue to enforce gender equity between men’s and women’s college sports.
“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “The president’s executive order directed [Secretary of Education] Linda McMahon to greatly minimize the agency.” The Dept. of Ed has already announced it would cut its workforce in half starting, going from roughly 4,000 workers to 2,000, beginning Friday.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is currently in charge of overseeing and enforcing Title IX, the statute prohibiting discrimination “on the basis of sex” in schools that has come to require equitable sports opportunities. It collects data on sports participation and funding for universities, and it oversees the process for Title IX complaints to be filed and investigated.
Violations range from inequitable facilities to having a significantly higher number of spots for men’s team players than women’s team players. Title IX is also used to adjudicate allegations of campus sexual misconduct, inside and outside sports. And so far, Trump’s second administration has mostly said it will use Title IX to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports. (Title IX’s requirements have proved somewhat aspirational: 93% of schools are estimated to be out of compliance with Title IX, according to a 2024 study from the Government Accountability Office.)
It’s unclear how drastically the action will impact the OCR, though Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters from the White House lawn that “critical functions” including civil rights enforcement “will remain.” But that doesn’t mean the office’s powers wouldn’t be limited; Trump had already ordered a stricter interpretation of Title IX, reverting back to standards set in his first term.
Ultimately, Trump doesn’t have the authority to sunset the Dept. of Education completely. The act would require congressional approval—a fact acknowledged by McMahon herself—and would likely be blocked in the Senate.
If the department is ultimately closed, it’s unclear who would oversee Title IX adjudication at all. Project 2025, the policy playbook that has proved to be a blueprint for Trump’s second term, suggested moving the Office for Civil Rights under the Department of Justice.
