Trump Title IX team probing education chief who called it 'inaccurate' to say there are only boys and girls

President Donald Trump's newly formed Title IX investigative team has been called upon in the state of Washington. 

Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Linda McMahon announced Wednesday the team will be launching an investigation into Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal's office

The team, a joint initiative by the DOE and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is taking action in response to Reykdal requiring schools to allow biologically male trans athletes on girls sports teams. 

"Multiple Washington state school districts have reported that OSPI is requiring school boards to adopt policies that allow males to participate in female sports and occupy female-only intimate facilities, thereby raising substantial Title IX concerns," the announcement said. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

McMahon issued a warning to Reykdal and the rest of the Democrat-controlled state.

"Washington state appears to use its position of authority to coerce its districts into hiding ‘gender identity’ information from students’ parents and to adopt policies to covertly smuggle gender ideology into the classroom, confusing students and letting boys into girls sports, bathrooms and locker rooms," McMahon said.

"If true, these are clear violations of parental rights and female equality in athletics, which are protected by federal laws that will be enforced by the Trump administration." 

Reykdal provided a statement to Fox News Digital and did not indicate his office would cooperate with the federal investigation. 

"My job as the leader of this constitutional office is to communicate, uphold and enforce the law," Reykdal said. "My office will enforce our current laws as we are required to do until Congress changes the law and/or federal courts invalidate Washington state’s laws. Unless, and until that happens, we will be following Washington state’s laws, not a president’s political leanings expressed through unlawful orders." 

Reykdal spoke in defense of transgender athletes in girls sports in an address Feb. 20, claiming it was "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders. 

"It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls," Reykdal said on camera. "There's a continuum. There's a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth." 

STATE EDUCATION CHIEF SAYS IT'S ‘INACCURATE’ TO SAY THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS, IN DEFENSE OF TRANS ATHLETES

Washington's high school athletes are allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy states that each athlete will participate in programs "consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed," and there are no medical or legal requirements. 

Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced but not passed.

The Kennewick School Board filed a Title IX complaint with the DOE's Office of Civil Rights against Reykdal's office in late March over the issue. 

Kennewick School Board President Gabe Galbraith previously told Fox News the district is seeking federal intervention to ensure the order will eventually be honored.

SCHOOL BOARD PLEADS WITH TRUMP ADMIN TO FORCE STATE BAN ON TRANSGENDERS IN GIRLS SPORTS AS DEMOCRATS REFUSE

"There's boys participating in girls sports. There's boys in girls locker rooms. It's unfair. It's not safe, and we're asking the federal government to just step in and put an end to this and ensure that the state is following President Trump's statements," he said.

Other school districts have taken a stand against Reykdal since President Trump signed his "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order Feb. 5. 

The Tumwater School District's board of directors voted later that month to ban trans girls from playing for girls sports teams. The resolution passed by a vote of 3-1 after a civil rights complaint was filed against the district over an incident involving a trans athlete in a girls basketball game. 

The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment Feb. 7. 

According to the document, Staudt asked the school's principal and athletic director before the game whether the player was a biological male. The administrators then allegedly confirmed that they had been notified that the player was transgender but denied her pleas to have the player removed.

However, the DOE OCR announced an investigation into Tumwater School District just days later. 

Now, the Trump administration is going further up the chain of command in the state, and taking aim at the superintendent. 

In addition to reports that Washington schools are allowing trans athletes in girls sports, the DOE cited in its announcement Wednesday that La Center School District in La Center, Washington, received a letter of finding indicating Reykdal was requiring districts to enact policies, such as mandating that districts not notify parents of a change in their child’s "gender identity,"

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Kaine breaks into Spanish as Dems force vote targeting Trump-El Salvador alliance over deportations

Top Democrats announced an effort Thursday to force the Trump administration to provide a report on how it is specifically complying with a court order to facilitate the return of wrongfully deported U.S. residents to El Salvador.

The resolution to do so from Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Charles Schumer of New York, Alex Padilla of California and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is "privileged," – meaning it will require a full Senate vote. Kaine cited the specific code under a 1961 foreign assistance law that allowed such.

If passed, and the White House fails to abide by it, U.S. security assistance to El Salvador would be immediately frozen, Schumer, Kaine and Van Hollen said.

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL

At a press conference outside the Capitol, the three men laid out how the vote would work, and one lawmaker later disclosed a separate effort to schedule a vote on sanctions against El Salvador over President Nayib Bukele's work with Trump.

"I also send a message to the government of El Salvador," Kaine said during his remakrs, breaking into Spanish midway.

"You might think it's cute right now to grab attention by a bromance with President Donald Trump. He's going to be a president for poco mas (a short time) – tres anos mas (three years more)."

Continuing in Spanish, Kaine said the two countries will always have relations, before transitioning back to English to say that the U.S. will not soon forget "you violating the human rights of American citizens, you're wrong."

"We will remember this forever," Kaine pledged. "And there will be significant and challenging downstream consequences for any nation that violates the rights of Americans."

KILMAR GARCIA NOW GETS 5 TOTAL DEM PROPONENTS IN EL SALVADOR

The move was spurred by the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member who was deported from Maryland to his home country last month.

Van Hollen later said the privileged resolution was not expressly about Garcia, but instead the greater idea that such people could be deported and/or treated without due process.

Echoing Kaine on repercussions for San Salvador’s government from Washington, Van Hollen spoke of plans to also seek a sanctions vote against Bukele "and all those who are part of his government conspiring with Donald Trump to deprive residents of the United States of their constitutional rights."

Returning again to speaking bilingually, Kaine responded to a reporter’s question by summing up the privileged resolution in Spanish.

"We have a guarantee of a vote after ten days on El Salvador and we are sending a message to President Trump that he needs to follow the law. And we are also sending a message to President Bukele that we are not going to forget if the government of El Salvador is violating American human rights," he said.

In a statement in English aside from the conference, Kaine said Bukele "has rounded up tens of thousands of Salvadorans without due process and jammed them indefinitely into overpopulated torture centers. And now he’s trying to do the same to people living in the United States," Kaine said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital prior to the conference.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"We will use this resolution to force accountability," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, a House supporter of the resolution – though Kaine said it does not require their blessing.

Van Hollen, who took a junket to El Salvador to attempt to bring Garcia to Maryland – where his family lives – said Trump has failed to comply with the order to facilitate his return.

Both Trump and Bukele appeared to agree in an Oval Office meeting last month that returning Garcia would be "preposterous" and that the court order didn’t quite say what critics said it did.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., for comment.

About Us

Virtus (virtue, valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth)

Vincit (conquers, triumphs, and wins)