WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed to advance a measure Monday night that would bar transgender students from participating on women’s school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The bill would help codify into law President Donald Trump’s , which carries out this exact ban and threatens to rescind federal funds from “educational programs” if schools .

The move also reflects a broader GOP-led push to enact . Across the country, an increasing number of states have passed laws banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

The party-line 51-45 vote could not garner 60 senators to break through the legislative filibuster.

Four senators did not vote, including Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming as well as Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Peter Welch of Vermont.

Ahead of the vote, Sen. Tammy Baldwin said on the Senate floor Monday that she stood in “strong opposition to any attempt by the federal government to meddle in decisions about who can and cannot participate in school sports.”

“This is a decision for local communities, where players and parents can participate in that discussion at the local level. This is a decision for sports leagues to thoughtfully craft policy that actually takes seriously what is best for all players, not blanket mandates that will undoubtedly have unintended consequences for the safety of all students,” the Wisconsin Democrat said.

Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville  in the Senate in January, and the bill gained several Republican .

“Thankfully, President Trump just signed an executive order that said, ‘No more — no more federal money to any state that allows this to happen,’ but you have to understand, this only lasts as long as President Trump’s in office, so we need this vote … to pass so we can make this into law,” Tuberville said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Title IX

The bill seeks to amend Title IX so that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law that bars schools that receive federal funding from practicing sex-based discrimination.

Trump’s executive order asks federal agencies to interpret Title IX in a way that complies with the order.

The president’s initiative provoked complex questions about enforcement mechanisms and consequences for schools that do not comply. The administration has already launched a number of  across the .

House action

Meanwhile, the  to the Senate’s in January, which GOP Rep. Greg Steube of Florida introduced.

That measure advanced 218-206, with all House Democrats in opposition except for Texas U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. North Carolina Democratic Rep. Don Davis voted “present.”

The , an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, noted that there has been “considerable disinformation and misinformation about what the inclusion of transgender youth in sports entails” and that trans students’ sports participation “has been a non-issue.”

At least 25 states have enacted a law that bans trans students from taking part in sports that align with their gender identity, according to the , an independent think tank.

Last updated 7:49 p.m., Mar. 3, 2025

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A federal judge ordered Hanover County Public Schools late Friday to temporarily cease blocking a transgender middle school student from trying out for and, if selected, playing on a sports team this school year.

In February, the student, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, filed a lawsuit claiming the school division violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

ACLU stated that the ruling found that the school board “likely violated” both when it banned the Hanover student from the tennis team.

“This order is a reminder to school boards that protecting transgender young people is part of protecting girls’ sports,” said legal director Eden Heilman, in a statement. “And it’s a flashing red light to any Virginia school board that might be tempted to think that VDOE’s anti-trans model policies give it license to abuse its power. As the court reminded Hanover County School Board in its ruling, no state policies can shield Virginia schools from accountability for violating federal law.”

Last year, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration overhauled the model policies for transgender and nonbinary students designed under former Gov. Ralph Northam to protect the privacy and rights of such students.

In February, ACLU and Freshfields filed three lawsuits challenging the Virginia Department of Education on the policies that some schools have adopted.

In opposition to a student’s right to decide who finds out about their gender status out of fear of being bullied or harassed, the governor sided with parents’ rights, directing the administration to overhaul the policies.

The administration the policies to require parental approval for any changes to students’ “names, nicknames, and/or pronouns,” direct schools to keep parents “informed about their children’s well-being” and require that student participation in activities and athletics and use of bathrooms be based on sex, “except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”

Freshfields and ACLU filed the Hanover case in two courts, the Eastern District of Virginia and the Hanover County Circuit Court. The third lawsuit involving a York County student was in July. That suit claimed that at least one teacher had refused to address the student by her correct first name.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the Hanover case is being heard separately in the federal and county courts. 

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