Trump Admin Freezes $175M in Federal Funding to UPenn Over Men Competing in Women’s Sports

Trump Admin Freezes $175M in Federal Funding to UPenn Over Men Competing in Women’s Sports

By:  TJVNews.com

In a bold escalation of its stance on protecting women’s sports, the Trump administration has paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) due to the school’s continued allowance of biological males to compete in women’s athletics, according to a report on  Wednesday in The Post Millennial.

The decision marks the administration’s first large-scale enforcement action following President Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” Executive Order, which was signed earlier this year. The funding freeze is not tied directly to an ongoing Department of Education (DOE) Title IX investigation, but rather represents what officials have described as a “proactive punishment” aimed at enforcing compliance ahead of any formal findings.

A senior administration official confirmed to Fox Business—as reported by The Post Millennial—that the decision to halt UPenn’s federal funding is a deliberate move by the White House to signal zero tolerance for institutions defying the newly established policy. The funding pause reportedly targets discretionary federal spending allocated to the university and sends a strong message to other educational institutions nationwide.

“Promises made, promises kept,” read a statement from the Trump White House Rapid Response account on X, underscoring the administration’s commitment to enforcing the executive order.

In tandem with the funding freeze, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced in February that it had launched formal investigations into UPenn, San Jose State University, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, according to the information provided in The Post Millennial report. These investigations focus on violations of Title IX protections for female athletes in relation to policies that permit biological males to participate in women’s sports programs.

“Pursuant to President Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order yesterday, the US Department of Education today announced investigations into two educational institutions and an athletic association where violations of Title IX have been reported,” the DOE said in a public statement, as cited by The Post Millennial. The department emphasized that schools risk losing federal funding if they fail to comply with the order’s provisions.

The executive order, signed earlier this year by President Trump, explicitly mandates that federal funds will be withheld from educational institutions that permit male athletes to compete in female categories, a move the administration says is essential to protect the integrity of women’s sports and ensure fair competition for female athletes.

UPenn has been at the center of national controversy since 2022, when Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer, began competing in women’s swimming events and proceeded to break records and claim championship titles, generating widespread backlash from athletes, parents, and women’s rights advocates, as was indicated in The Post Millennial report.

The school’s decision to allow Thomas to compete in the women’s division ignited an intense public debate and led to lawsuits and formal complaints from female athletes, many of whom argued that their athletic opportunities and competitive fairness were being eroded by UPenn’s policies.

As The Post Millennial report noted, the current funding freeze is widely seen as a direct response to the school’s continued support for inclusive gender policies in sports, even after years of controversy and public scrutiny.

The Trump administration’s executive order represents a broader push to reshape the federal approach to Title IX, a landmark civil rights law originally intended to protect women’s rights in education and sports. By linking Title IX compliance directly to funding eligibility, the administration is making it clear that institutions that defy this policy will face real financial consequences.

While critics of the executive order argue that it restricts the rights of transgender individuals, supporters—both within and outside of the administration—frame it as a nece, ssary correction to preserve the intent and integrity of women’s sports under federal law, The Post Millennial reported.

“This administration will not tolerate the mistreatment of female athletes,” the DOE emphasized in its February statement, reiterating that the executive order is a “promise to women and girls”—one that the administration is prepared to enforce through aggressive legal and financial measures.

The decision to withhold $175 million in funding from one of the country’s most prominent Ivy League institutions marks a watershed moment in the ongoing national debate over gender inclusion and athletic fairness. As The Post Millennial reported, this move represents the Trump administration’s strongest enforcement action to date under its new Title IX strategy—and could serve as a harbinger of broader actions to come across the country.

For now, UPenn—and other institutions facing similar scrutiny—must weigh the implications of their policies not only in the court of public opinion but also in terms of their bottom line. The Trump administration has made its position clear: compliance with the executive order is no longer optional—it’s a condition for funding.