The University of Pennsylvania may have bowed to the Trump administration on the issue of transgender athletes in female sports, but not the state of California.
California officials on Monday set up a showdown with the Trump administration by rejecting the resolution agreement proposed by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which would have banned male-born athletes in girls’ sports.
“The CDE respectfully disagrees with OCR’s analysis, and it will not sign the Proposed Resolution Agreement,” said Len Garfinkel, the department’s general counsel, in a terse two-sentence letter.
The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs K-12 athletics, said it “concurs with the response of the California Department of Education.”
Not happy was Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who warned that California Gov. Gavin Newsom would soon hear from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports,” Ms. McMahon said on X. “Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that ‘it’s an issue of fairness’ was empty political grandstanding.”
The federal department offered a proposed resolution agreement June 25 after finding that the state had violated Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing boys who identify as girls to participate in girls’ sports and use girls’ locker rooms.
The agreement called on the state to rescind its transgender-eligibility policies; change its records to “restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes”; and apologize to the female athletes.
A 2013 California law known as Assembly Bill 1266 requires schools to allow students to participate in activities, including sports, based on their gender identity.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, California Republican, bemoaned California’s refusal to comply with the administration’s agreement.
“Unbelievable. California is refusing to change its policy of forcing girls to compete against biological males,” Mr. Kiley said on X. “The Education Department says it ‘disagrees’ with the federal civil rights laws.”
He continued: “This reckless and illegal decision puts our state’s federal funding at risk.”
California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports.
Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that “it’s an issue of fairness” was empty political grandstanding.@CAgovernor, you’ll be hearing from @AGPamBondi. pic.twitter.com/wa945HtmG6
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) July 7, 2025
Under Mr. Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order, “Keeping Males Out of Women’s Sports,” educational institutions that receive federal funds must require students to compete based on biological sex or possibly lose their federal funding.
The California Interscholastic Federation allowed A.B. Hernandez, a biological boy who identifies as a girl, to compete last month in the girls’ track-and-field state championships.
The Jurupa Valley High School junior won two state titles, but in a concession, the federation also gave medals and qualifying slots to the girls bumped by Hernandez.
The University of Pennsylvania agreed last week to a resolution agreement with the Trump administration that restored all individual titles to female athletes bumped by Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who competed on the women’s team in the 2021-22 season.
The Ivy League university also said it would adopt biologically based definitions of sex and send letters of apology to the female athletes who lost to Thomas.
The NCAA banned male-born athletes from women’s sports the day after Mr. Trump issued his executive order. The University of Pennsylvania competes in the NCAA’s Division I.
