DNC policy platform slammed over ‘explicit’ Title IX protections for LGBT students: 'Flagrant lawlessness'

Delegates at the Democratic National Convention are set to vote Monday on the Democratic Party’s 2024 policy platform, which includes "explicit" Title IX protections for LGBT students that were just blocked by the Supreme Court. 

The Democratic National Convention released the final 2024 Democratic Party platform Sunday night, after the one created during President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign was eventually scrapped. Vice President Kamala Harris announced her own presidential bid shortly after, generating a need for revisions that would better align with her own policy positions and a new vision for the party. The latest party platform mimics the Biden administration’s attempted rule making on Title IX to widen the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity. 

"After Friday’s SCOTUS order, the Biden-Harris Title IX rules are in effect in less than 50% of the country — underscoring the flagrant lawlessness of this policy, as well as the deep unpopularity of this issue," Nicole Neily, the president and founder of parental rights group Parents Defending Education, told Fox News Digital. "Americans agree on relatively little these days, but opposition to progressive gender policies is one of the few issues that transcends racial, political, and socioeconomic lines — so doubling down on this issue is a risky move."

Matt Sharp, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian nonprofit that also focuses on parental rights issues, said the decision to include transgender protections in the Democratic Party’s platform "flies in the face of growing opinion" about expanding the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity.

"I think it's really concerning to see the DNC platform sort of keep going down this same path that courts time and time again have pushed back on, have not allowed to move forward, and that ultimately the American public is not in favor of," Sharp said.

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Sharp pointed out how efforts to redefine sex and sexual discrimination go all the way back to President Barack Obama’s administration. Once Trump took office, he rolled back the rule, but then it was put back in place by Biden. 

"This has been a continuing pattern for several administrations to push this, but not only are the courts rebuffing it, but that the American public themselves are too, and we're seeing it through more and more courageous female voices standing up against this," Sharp said.

Reed D. Rubinstein, senior vice president at America First Legal, the right-wing legal organization founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, called the move to add protections for transgender students under Title IX "old news."

"The left has fought this reality for well over a decade — it has repeatedly attempted and repeatedly failed to amend Title IX in Congress. Twice, it has attempted to change the law by administrative fiat. To protect girls’ sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms, the Trump administration reversed the Obama administration’s ‘Dear Colleague’ letter that asserted ‘sex’ and ‘[gender identity’ are coextensive]," Rubinstein told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"The Trump administration issued a Title IX rule that survived every single left-wing court challenge. Now, the courts have stopped the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to rewrite the statute by regulation. But the Supreme Court, unanimously, has made it clear the word ‘sex’ in Title IX does not mean ‘gender identity,’ but rather, biological sex, male or female.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

In addition to Title IX protections for transgender students, the DNC party platform also contains language that states Democrats will continue "to relieve the crippling burden of student debt" in 2024 — another policy effort under Biden that was rolled back by the Supreme Court. The platform blames Republicans for "block[ing] our student debt relief."

The Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s plans for student debt cancelation last year, arguing the president stepped outside the bounds of his authority when he announced a plan to cancel up to $400 billion in student loans through executive action.

Harris proposes major corporate tax hike, reversing Trump era cuts

CHICAGO - As the Democratic National Convention kicked off on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris called for upping the corporate tax rate as the party's presidential nominee unveiled her first big ticket proposal to raise revenues.

The Harris campaign confirmed to Fox News that the vice president is proposing to raise the rate major businesses pay from 21% to 28%, describing it as "a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share."

"As President, Kamala Harris will focus on creating an opportunity economy for the middle class that advances their economic security, stability, and dignity," campaign spokesman James Singer added in a statement.

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The move, if it became law, would likely raise hundreds of billions of dollars, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. 

The announcement comes as Harris is beginning to offer details on how she'd govern if she is elected president, and how she would try to pay for expensive ideas she proposed last week, including expanding the child tax credit and easing the cost of homeownership and lowering medical debt.

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The announcement would also constitute a major rollback of the 2017 tax cuts - the signature domestic legislation passed during former President Trump's administration - which dramatically cut the corporate tax rate from 35% down to 21%.

Trump has pledged to cut taxes if he returns to the White House. 

"Our plan will massively cut taxes," Trump said at a campaign event Monday at a factory in York, Pennsylvania. "I gave you the best tax cut in history."

And he signaled that he would aim to use tariffs against competitors and allies alike by pushing for legislation called the "Trump Reciprocal Trade Act." 

But the Harris campaign charges that Trump's proposed tariffs on overseas goods "would punish middle and working class Americans, so he can cut taxes for the richest Americans."

Portions of the Trump tax cuts sunset at the end of 2025, which will spur a major debate next year over what parts should be extended.

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Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller pointed to the Harris proposal in a social media post, writing "bye-bye economic growth, new hirings, investment, expansion, onshoring, and so much more!"

The new stance by Harris also aligns her with the most recent federal budget proposal by President Biden, which also proposes boosting the corporate tax rate to 28%.

Harris replaced Biden four weeks ago at the top of the Democrats' 2024 ticket, after Biden announced he was ending his re-election bid and supporting his vice president as his successor.

But veteran Republican consultant and strategist Alex Castellanos told Fox News such proposals will do Harris no favors at the voting booth.

"She does not need the spotlight on her or her polices. She's been two sides of too many issues. And if she supports raising the corporate tax, that's a job killer. You don't need to hurt working people directly. All you need to do is hurt the companies working people work for," Castellanos argued.

Fox News' Emily Reynolds contributed to this report

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