The new Republican-controlled Congress will hear arguments on a bill that would seek to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's sports in its first 100 days after voting yes on a new rules package Friday.
The 119th Congress approved the new rules package after re-electing Mike Johnson as House speaker. A bill to address the issue of gender identity in sports was listed as the top priority.
"A bill to amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth," the first point in the final section of the package states.
Democrats have previously introduced multiple bills to protect transgender inclusion in women's and girls sports on a national level, including the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights. The Biden administration took multiple steps to enable transgender inclusion via executive orders, including an order on his first day in office in 2021.
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However, those efforts have stalled over the last year, as Democrats have pulled back on their support for transgender inclusion amid immense backlash in a heated election year. Biden's Department of Education even withdrew its proposed rule that would have outlawed states from banning transgender athletes from women's and girls sports in late December after it was initially proposed in April 2023.
Now, after President-elect Trump and other prominent Republicans vowed to take action to ban transgender athletes from women's sports prior to the election, there is a timeline for when that action may begin.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., celebrated Friday's vote and will be reintroducing the bill included in the rules package, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
"The radical left is not in step with the American people on the issue of protecting women’s sports," Steube said in a statement released Friday.
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"Americans have loudly spoken that they do not want men stealing sports records from women, entering their daughters’ locker rooms, replacing female athletes on teams, and taking their daughters’ scholarship opportunities.
"My legislation stands for truth, safety, and reality: men have no place in women’s sports. Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will fulfill this promise."
This bill ensures that biological females compete against other biological females in women’s sports that are operated or sponsored by a recipient of federal funding.
Other women's activist groups have also celebrated the impending legislative action on the issue after a year of multiple controversies involving transgender athletes competing against and sharing locker rooms with biological women and girls across the nation.
The Concerned Women for America (CWA) provided a statement to Fox News Digital, praising the prioritization of the bill.
"There’s no question this ought to be a legislative priority in the 119th Congress. The Biden administration and company have launched a full-scale attack on women’s dignity. Leadership must act promptly to restore sensibility to public policy and immediately take young girls out of the disastrous fires of woke ideology," CWA Legislative Strategist Macy Petty told Fox News Digital.
"No little girl should see the most powerful politicians in the world vote to put men in her locker room. Not in the Land of the Free. It’s cowardice and disgusting. But it’s the reality of our political landscape. Last Congress, the House passed similar legislation on strict party lines. One party voted that women deserve private spaces, one didn’t."
Conservative advocacy group Heritage Action for America released a statement Friday celebrating the vote.
"Today, the House also considered the rules package for the 119th Congress that includes significant legislative priorities for Heritage Action, including the SAVE Act and the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act. Congress must now begin the work to enact a bold conservative agenda. We congratulate Speaker Johnson on his re-election to speaker of the House and look forward to working with all members of the 119th Congress to enact conservative policy wins," the statement said.
A national exit poll conducted by the CWA legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them.
And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."
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