House Passes Bill to Bar Trans Athletes From Female School Sports Teams

Republicans’ decision to push through the measure early in the new Congress indicated their belief that the issue is politically potent for them. Its future in the Senate is uncertain.

A divided House on Tuesday approved legislation that aims to bar transgender women and girls from participating in school athletic programs designated for female students, as Republicans sought to wring political opportunity from a social issue that helped them win the 2024 elections.

The bill, approved almost entirely along party lines on a vote of 218 to 206, would prohibit federal funding from going to K-12 schools that include transgender students on women’s sports teams. It faces a steep challenge in the Senate, where seven Democrats would have to join Republicans to move it past a filibuster and to a final vote.

Just two Democrats joined all Republicans in voting in favor in the House, while another Democrat voted “present,” declining to register a position.

Republicans on Tuesday presented the legislation, which they also pushed through during the last Congress, as a popular and pragmatic way to level the playing field for female athletes, and as a move to protect women’s spaces and women’s rights.

“The overwhelming majority believe men don’t belong in women’s sports,” said Representative Greg Steube, the Florida Republican who sponsored the measure. “This bill will deliver upon the mandate the American people gave Congress.”

But Democrats, who dubbed the bill the “Child Predator Empowerment Act,” said it was a dangerous invasion of privacy for young girls that would put them at greater risk. They also pointed to the bill as the latest example of an unhealthy fixation among Republicans with trying to restrict the rights of transgender individuals, when they could be spending their time passing legislation to create jobs or reduce the prices of groceries.

Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said bluntly that the bill was an example of Republicans’ “creepy obsession with your kids’ private parts” and that it would fuel more hate against a small and vulnerable population of transgender children that already faces higher rates of bullying and mental health issues.

“Every kid should be able to play sports,” Mr. McGovern added. “This is a mean, cruel, bullying tactic.”

Representative Lori Trahan, Democrat of Massachusetts and the only former Division I female college athlete currently serving in Congress, said there were legitimate concerns about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports at the highest levels. But she criticized Republican lawmakers for injecting themselves into the issue.

“Why in the world would we let insincere, attention-seeking politicians here in Washington — many of whom know little to nothing about competitive sports — take over?” Ms. Trahan said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Democrats also said that while there could be instances of transgender athletes competing in elite sports that were concerning, the measure would lump those with harmless situations in which elementary school children simply want to be included in activities with their friends.

The decision by Republicans to bring up a bill cracking down on transgender rights in the second week of Congress indicated that they believe the issue continues to be politically potent for them. During the 2024 presidential election season, the Trump campaign spent more than $37 million on television ads dealing with transgender issues, nearly 20 percent of its overall ad budget, according to data provided by AdImpact, an organization that tracks political ad placement and spending.

Last year, House Republicans brought up 87 bills curtailing transgender rights, according to Trans Legislation Tracker, an independent research organization tracking such bills.

And as they have started the unpleasant process of conducting a post-election autopsy, studying their own deficits, Democrats have been split on how much their stance defending transgender rights cost them with swing voters.

On Tuesday, Democrats notably spent more time raising alarms about how the bill would trample the privacy of girls, who they said would be subject to invasive questioning about their bodies, than on defending the rights of transgender athletes.

“This doesn’t protect a girl’s rights, it eliminates them,” said Representative Katherine M. Clark, Democrat of Massachusetts. “It puts a target on the back of every girl, every young woman who chooses to play sports. The genital inspection of little girls is the wrong answer.”

What followed was a heated disagreement about how such legislation would be enforced. Representative Tim Walberg, Republican of Michigan, said there would be no need for invasive questions or any physical exam; enforcement would mean simply reviewing a student’s birth certificate to see what gender he or she was assigned at birth.

Democrats said that some birth certificates list babies who are born intersex, meaning their biological or physiological traits are not clearly male or female, and argued they would not be a reliable way to enforce the ban on transgender athletes from women’s sports. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, said that “when there is no enforcement mechanism, you open the door to every enforcement mechanism.”

Democrats also noted how small a population was at stake. There are about 510,000 athletes competing at the N.C.A.A. level, Representative Suzanne Bonamici, Democrat of Oregon, noted, and just 10 are transgender.

But Republicans said the legislation would strengthen Title IX protections and railed against Democrats for what they characterized as extreme positions on transgender issues, citing stories from their own districts about girls losing out on opportunities that went instead to transgender students.

Mr. Steube blasted the “radical left who seek to dismantle the core foundation of our society” by recognizing more than two genders. “In worship to their trans idols, radical leftists want to kill Title IX.”

Mr. Walberg added that Democrats were missing the reality that “the American people, parents, grandparents, teachers, don’t stand with them” on this issue.

The two Democrats who voted with Republicans in favor of the measure were Representatives Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas. Representative Don Davis, Democrat of North Carolina, voted “present.” Mr. Cuellar opposed the same bill last year, while both Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Davis did not vote on it.

President Biden had sought to expand protections for transgender students and make other changes to the rules governing sex discrimination in schools. But last week, a federal judge in Kentucky struck down that effort.

It is still early days in the new Congress, and President-elect Donald J. Trump has not yet been sworn into office. But railing against transgender rights is already becoming a theme for the Republican-led House.

Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, began a campaign against the first openly transgender member of Congress, Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware, before she was even sworn in. During member orientation, Ms. Mace introduced a measure to bar transgender women from using women’s restrooms and changing rooms in the Capitol complex.

Ms. McBride so far has steered clear of weighing in on issues that have to do with her identity. She did not take the bait on the bathroom ban, saying simply that she would adhere to the new rules. And on Tuesday, Ms. McBride opposed the bill, but she notably did not speak out against it on the floor as many of her Democratic colleagues did.

Our Coverage of Congress

Here’s the latest news and analysis from Capitol Hill.

• A Challenge for Trump’s Agenda: Donald Trump has admonished Republicans to stay united around his ambitious domestic policy plans. But the president-elect’s track record with Congress is one of abrupt turnabouts and last-minute blowups.
• Trump’s Cabinet Picks: A partisan clash is underway over Trump’s choices for his cabinet, as Republicans face pressure to fast-track confirmations and Democrats charge that they are cutting corners on vetting for critical administration jobs.
• Migrant Crime Bill: The Senate came closer to passing a bill requiring the deportation of undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes after most Democrats joined Republicans to advance it.
• Proxy Voting for New Parents: A group of younger lawmakers is pressing to change House rules to allow members who are new parents to vote remotely. The effort is drawing bipartisan support.
• I.C.C. Sanctions: The House passed a bill that would impose sanctions on officials at the International Criminal Court, making a frontal assault on the tribunal in a rebuke of its move to charge Israeli leaders with war crimes in Gaza.