No Department, No Enforcement: Title IX After the Collapse of the Department of Education

Abstract

The structural foundations of Title IX enforcement are undergoing a profound transformation. President Trump’s 2025 executive order initiating the closure of the Department of Education, combined with the vacatur of the 2024 Title IX regulations and the Supreme Court’s elimination of Chevron deference in Loper Bright, has fundamentally dismantled the administrative framework that long anchored Title IX protections. Unlike prior regulatory shifts, these developments raise the question of whether meaningful federal enforcement will continue to exist at all. As administrative structures recede, courts will assume a much greater role in defining Title IX’s scope and enforceability, despite their institutional limitations. This Article argues that the resulting shift will narrow substantive protections, restrict access to justice, and produce fragmented interpretations of Title IX across jurisdictions. It examines the statute’s original design as an evolving administrative framework, explores the barriers marginalized students will face under a litigation-driven model, and explains why courts are ill-equipped to provide consistent, forward-looking guidance. This Article concludes by considering potential legislative reforms to restore national coordination in Title IX enforcement, drawing lessons from Congress’s intervention following Grove City College v. Bell.