WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Monday directing the Department of Education to review policies implemented by the Donald Trump administration, including changes to Title IX regulations that prohibit sex discrimination in institutions funded by the federal government, according to government officials.
Biden focused on gender equality during his campaign and promised to strengthen Title IX if he won the White House. He will also sign a second executive order formally establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, according to two government officials who informed reporters about the plan. Biden’s transition team announced their plans to create the board before he took office.
The order that directs the revision of Title IX could pave the way for a major change in the way colleges deal with allegations of sexual misconduct in the future.
Trump’s Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, in 2018 rescinded an Obama-era administration standard in cases of sexual assault allegations of requiring a “preponderance of evidence” – meaning that it is more likely than not that sexual harassment or violence has occurred – for “clear and convincing. “
The changes at DeVos reduced the responsibility of colleges and universities in investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and reinforced the rights to due process of the accused, including the right to interrogate your accusers through a third-party defender at campus hearings.
Biden, as vice president, together with then Education Secretary Arne Duncan in 2011 established the legal guidelines of what was expected of college campuses in response to allegations of sexual violence on behalf of President Barack Obama’s government.
With the Department of Education’s review, Biden’s intention is to define policies that help ensure that students have an environment free from sexual harassment and without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a White House official. who informed reporters about the orders.
The order establishing the Gender Policy Council comes after Trump dissolved an office specifically focused on women’s issues created during the Obama administration that was called the White House Council for Women and Girls.
Although the new council is a resurrection of the Obama era, a government official said that giving it a new name was a recognition that inequalities can affect people of all genders. Still, the official said the council will focus primarily on the issues that women and girls face because of the “disproportionate barriers” they face.
The new council is tasked with helping to promote gender equality in the government’s domestic and foreign policy efforts. Some of the issues on which the council will focus include combating sexual harassment, addressing structural barriers to women’s participation in the workforce, narrowing wage and gender wealth differences, addressing care issues that have disproportionately affected women and responding gender-based violence.
The requests come as Biden plans to comment on the White House on Monday, marking International Women’s Day, a global day that celebrates women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements.