Republican-Led States Drop Suit Over Biden-Era Title IX Rule

A group of Republican-led states and an Arkansas high school student dropped their lawsuit challenging a Biden-era rule expanding transgender students’ legal protections.

Arkansas, Missouri, and four other states that mounted the challenge filed a notice of voluntary dismissal Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The Education Department under the Biden administration issued a rule that expanded Title IX’s protections against discrimination and harassment to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The change followed a 2020 US Supreme Court ruling that held Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which relates to bias in the employment context, protects workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

• The rule faced a slew of lawsuits brought by Republican-led states, and was paused by injunctions in several courts across the country
• The Trump administration has since abandoned the Biden-era legal interpretation and dropped several appeals filed before President Donald Trump took office challenging lower court injunctions. The current administration asserts Title IX doesn’t cover students’ gender identity
• The states here alleged the rule exceeded the executive branch’s authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act

Alliance Defending Freedom and Fellows & Blake LC represent the minor plaintiff. State attorney general offices represent the states.

The case is Arkansas v. US Dep’t of Educ., E.D. Mo., No. 4:24-cv-00636, 6/9/26.