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A decision from a Biden-appointed judge earlier this week paves the way for gender-confused boys to continue competing against girls in California.
The female federal judge on Monday blocked a lawsuit from the Trump administration challenging California policies allowing males to compete on female sports teams. The suit accused California of violating Title IX by failing to keep boys who identify as transgender off of girls’ sports teams.
The judge did not rule on whether California policies violated Title IX, but instead argued the state did not receive proper notice they could lose federal funding if they did not change their policies. In 2025, California’s Department of Education received about $44 billion in federal aid.
“Even assuming Title IX requires what Plaintiff contends, [California Department of Education] lacked clear notice of that requirement as a condition of federal funding. The Spending Clause therefore bars Plaintiff from enforcing the asserted funding condition in this action,” U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela wrote Monday.
“Plaintiff seeks to enforce a categorical exclusion rule as a condition of federal funding. The Spending Clause inquiry is therefore whether Title IX and its implementing regulations clearly required California to exclude transgender girls from girls’ teams and sex-separated facilities,” she added.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2025 by the Justice Department against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation. The DOJ argued that California was breaking federal civil rights protections because Title IX entitled girls to have their own sports teams and private facilities.
Responding to the decision, a spokesman for the Justice Department said that officials are “disappointed by the Court’s order and remain committed to enforcing President Trump’s agenda of preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon appeared to suggest further action from the Justice Department, noting on X the decision came from a “California judge” and telling people to “stay tuned.”
In her decision, Valenzuela argued that the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing states to keep sports teams separate on the basis of sex did not mean that all states were required to do so under Title IX.
“The Court thus upheld the biological-sex eligibility rules before it without holding that Title IX requires every school to adopt the same rule,” she said. “The Court also declined to decide whether Title IX permits transgender girls to participate on girls’ and women’s teams.”
The Trump administration has challenged numerous states and school districts over their adoption of policies depriving young girls of private facilities and athletic teams.
“The Justice Department will not stand for policies that deprive girls of their hard-earned athletic trophies and ignore their safety on the field and in private spaces,” Dhillon said at the time the lawsuit was filed. “Young women should not have to sacrifice their rights to compete for scholarships, opportunities, and awards on the altar of woke gender ideology.”
