The White House on Wednesday said it had “鈥� $175 million in federal funding from the University of Pennsylvania after a transgender swimmer, Lia Thomas, in 2022 won several medals in Division I women’s swimming.

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Education Department said its Office of Civil Rights had that the state of Maine violated federal Title IX anti-discrimination law after Katie Spencer, a young transgender pole vaulter, won a state championship last month. The department said Maine could jeopardize federal funding if it doesn鈥檛 鈥渟wiftly and completely鈥� reverse its policies.听

Protests followed after Thomas and Spencer听began competing in women鈥檚 competitions and fared better than they previously had in men鈥檚听events.

The moves follow through on a promise Trump made 16 days after his second inauguration, when he issued an threatening to rescind federal funding from schools that let transgender women play on women鈥檚 sports teams

As with other aspects of Trump鈥檚 presidency, it leaves institutions in the unenviable position of caving before an increasingly aggressive White House 鈥� or fighting back in federal court, where many of the legal issues remain unsettled and, in a few cases, have actually favored trans students.

The order鈥檚 practical effect: confusion, especially in the roughly half of states that allow transgender athletes to compete in sports consistent with their gender identity. These state laws and policies now face a powerful conservative backlash that sees trans athletes鈥� participation at every level as patently unfair and itself, and seeks to remove them 鈥� and their accomplishments 鈥� altogether.

Leading the charge: the education department鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights, which has opened more than half a dozen investigations in two months. Along with probes of anti-semitism, trans athletic policies now dominate OCR鈥檚 investigative portfolio, despite to the office by Elon Musk鈥檚 Department of Government Efficiency.

Jackie Gharapour Wernz, a former OCR attorney who now consults for educational institutions, called the new administration鈥檚 approach 鈥渦nprecedented 鈥� but it’s not even just unprecedented. It’s so much further beyond precedent that it just feels like we’re in a completely different world at this point.鈥�

鈥淚’ve never seen anything like this,鈥� she said.

鈥楩airness and safety鈥�

Penn, Trump鈥檚 alma mater, late Wednesday said it had not received any notification or details of the action. But a spokesperson told the that the university 鈥渉as always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams.”

A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

As with Maine, several states are finding that adhering to their own laws can invite a federal investigation 鈥� and an abrupt cut in aid 鈥� from an administration that is comfortable calling out educators who they see as failing to protect young women in sports. 

The complexity in many ways mirrors public perception. Recent , for instance, find that while 56% of Americans support policies that protect trans people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public spaces, 66% favor laws and policies that require trans athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth. 

鈥淎s a parent, I鈥檓 concerned about fairness and safety for my girls in sports,鈥� said Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty and a mother of four. Allowing 鈥渂iological males鈥� to compete in women鈥檚 events, she said, 鈥渦ndermines the level playing field鈥� that federal regulations were meant to protect, 鈥済iven the inherent physical advantages men have.鈥�

In 2025, the issue no longer falls entirely along ideological lines. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said transgender athletes playing in women鈥檚 sports is 鈥溾�� to female athletes. 

States evenly divided

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding, but whether that applies to trans students and athletics remains an open question. President Biden in 2022 put forth a sweeping set of changes protecting students against discrimination based not just on sex but on sexual orientation and gender identity, in effect making transgender students a protected class. But the proposal sidestepped the question of athletics, with administration officials at the time saying those regulations would come soon. 

They never came, and the Title IX protections for LGBTQ students have been repeatedly struck down by the courts. Biden put forth a draft rule to protect transgender athletes that acknowledged fairness issues but suggested they could be solved on a case-by-case basis. He last December in advance of Trump鈥檚 second term.听

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a transgender ban on women鈥檚 and girls鈥� sports, but the Senate a bid to consider it earlier this month, leaving educators in many states to figure it out on their own.

Add to that in federal courts that have upheld the rights of trans athletes, said Wernz, and schools are in 鈥渁n incredibly tough position,鈥� especially considering Trump鈥檚 order. 

State laws are on the subject: 23 states and the District of Columbia allow transgender students to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Five days after Trump鈥檚 executive order, , which oversees sports in public and private schools, that it was banning trans athletes from participating in girls鈥� sports, saying schools needed 鈥渃lear and consistent direction鈥� on the issue. For more than a decade, the group had allowed trans athletes to play via a waiver if they undertook sex reassignment before puberty or if they did hormone therapy, among other requirements.

The league, which oversees 318 schools and about 177,000 students, said just five students applied for waivers last year.

In addition to Maine and Penn, OCR is investigating state athletic associations in California and Minnesota, where officials have said they鈥檒l continue allowing trans athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity. On March 3, it announced an into a school district in Washington State that allowed a trans player to compete in basketball last month.

It鈥檚 also San Jose State University and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for what it says are violations of Title IX.

Wernz, the former OCR attorney, who worked in both the Obama and Trump administrations, said schools and districts must now decide, 鈥溾�楧o we comply with the federal courts, or do we comply with the Department of Education?鈥� Frankly it’s a pretty new situation.鈥� 

鈥榃e鈥檒l see you in court.鈥�

To many, the case of Thomas, the Penn swimmer, has come to epitomize the current complications. In 2022, Thomas, who鈥檇 on the men’s team before transitioning in 2019, rose from 554th-ranked in the 200-yard freestyle to fifth. In the 500-yard freestyle, she rose from 65th as a male athlete to first in women鈥檚 competition.

While Penn and several teammates supported her during the process, three former Penn swimmers to remove Thomas鈥� achievements from the record books.

Pennsylvania鈥檚 interscholastic athletics governing body recently its policy to recognize Trump鈥檚 executive order, but the Philadelphia School District said it鈥檒l ignore the change in favor of its own policy, adopted in 2016, which allows trans athletes to play in sports that match their gender identity. 

While a few experts say that could jeopardize an estimated $216 million in Title I funding, Philadelphia civil rights attorney noted that Trump鈥檚 executive order doesn鈥檛 carry the weight of law 鈥� or supersede Title IX, state law or multiple court decisions that have sided with trans students.

She said Trump 鈥渉as been purposely sowing a lot of chaos and confusion,鈥� with schools fearful of losing federal funds.

The push to ban trans athletes comes despite the fact that vanishingly small numbers of these students are pushing to play. Shortly after Trump issued the executive order, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the organization would to restrict female athletic competitions solely to student athletes 鈥渁ssigned female at birth.鈥� Several sports associations followed suit, even though Baker last year told Congress that of the more than 500,000 students it represents, fewer than 10 are transgender.

Chris Young, the principal of , a 720-student regional school in Newport, Vt., near the Canadian border, rarely thinks about the topic. He knows that if trans female athletes in Vermont want to play girl鈥檚 sports teams, they can. Though he has no trans athletes on his roster, Vermont says treating students differently is illegal. 

In an interview, he recalled several conversations with students asking whether it鈥檚 fair that a young person who鈥檚 transitioning from male to female could gain a competitive advantage in sports. 

鈥淢y response is, 鈥楴o one does this as a choice. It’s who they are, and it’s an incredibly difficult road to go down if you are a transgender athlete,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥溾�楴o one chooses that because it’s easy, and no one chooses that because they want to win a state championship or set a record. That’s just not how it works.鈥欌��

But when trans athletes like Thomas win at nearly any competition, the backlash is often outsized. In Maine, Spencer, the transgender pole vaulter, in mid-February won the Class B state championship in pole vaulting with a jump of 10 feet, 6 inches 鈥� more than six inches higher than the next competitor. That led state Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican, to post on X that in a previous season, as a male athlete, Spencer had in the event.

The issue a few days later, when President Trump got into a televised spat with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, during a meeting of governors at the White House. With Mills鈥� colleagues looking on, Trump called her out, asking if she鈥檇 comply with his executive order.

Mills said she鈥檚 鈥渃omplying with state and federal laws.鈥� Maine bars discrimination based on gender identity.

Trump responded, 鈥淲e are the federal law,鈥� and threatened to pull Maine鈥檚 federal funding. 

鈥淲e鈥檒l see you in court,鈥� she replied.

Later that day, the education department . Days later, the administration released a that all but foretold the outcome, saying it鈥檚 鈥渟hameful鈥� that Mills 鈥渞efuses to stand with women and girls.鈥� 

For her part, Mills says no president can withhold funding authorized by Congress 鈥渋n an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will.鈥� 

In a , she added, 鈥淢aine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won鈥檛 be the last.鈥�