Watchdog says Biden Education Department defied court order on Title IX enforcement

By Tom Joyce
The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Education still has not released a final investigative report about allegations that the Biden administration ignored federal court orders on Title IX enforcement.

Empower Oversight urged the department to complete and release the report after a whistleblower claimed the department’s Office for Civil Rights continued investigating gender identity and sexual orientation complaints in states covered by a federal injunction.

A federal judge in Tennessee blocked the Biden administration in July 2022 from enforcing guidance that expanded Title IX protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation in certain states.

Empower Oversight filed a whistleblower disclosure with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in April 2024. Regardless, the group said the Education Department kept advancing Title IX cases covered by the injunction.

“Court orders are not suggestions. Federal officials cannot ignore injunctions simply because they disagree with them,” Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, said in a news release.

“Yet our client disclosed that the Biden Department of Education did just that when it came to enforcing Title IX,” Leavitt added.

The Office of Special Counsel later referred the allegations to the Department of Education for a formal investigation under federal whistleblower law.

The department issued a report in December 2024. Empower Oversight said the report “omitted material facts and contained false and misleading statements.”

The watchdog group said the Office of Special Counsel requested a supplemental response from the department in February 2025 and gave the agency a March 12, 2025, deadline to respond.

“It’s now been over a year since OSC transmitted to the Department of Education our client’s whistleblower disclosures,” Leavitt said. “Department leadership should ensure that the final investigative report is completed and transmitted to OSC so the agency can make it public as the law requires.”

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Empower Oversight pointed to cases in Oklahoma and Georgia as examples of investigations the Office for Civil Rights pursued despite the injunction.

One case involved Owasso Public Schools, which entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with the Office for Civil Rights in November 2024 over a Title IX complaint. School officials said the district did not violate disability discrimination laws but still agreed to changes involving Title IX policies, procedures, training and documentation.

Another dealt with complaints tied to book removals in Forsyth County Schools. Parents and activists challenged books with sexual content and LGBT themes, while federal officials warned the district that some removals and restrictions could create a hostile environment for students.

Empower Oversight also said some employees tied to the allegations later lost their jobs during reductions in force. A recent court order could bring some of those employees back. The allegations say Education Department officials kept pushing gender identity and sexual orientation Title IX cases in states where federal courts had already told them to stop.