President Joe Biden is shifting his focus away from efforts aimed at protecting transgender student-athletes and canceling student loans for over 38 million Americans. This decision marks the initial steps of a broader strategy to withdraw pending regulations, which could allow President-elect Donald Trump to modify them for his own objectives.
The White House plans to retract unfinished rules from various agencies if there's insufficient time to finalize them before Trump assumes office. Leaving the proposed regulations unchanged would enable the incoming administration to revise them and expedite its agenda more effectively.
Even as the Biden administration moves to pull back the rules, it pushed ahead with student debt cancellation through other avenues on Friday. The Education Department said it was clearing loans for another 55,000 borrowers who reached eligibility through a program known as Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which was created by Congress in 2007 and expanded by the Biden administration.
As the Biden administration withdraws its pending regulations, Trump will have the opportunity to implement his own regulations on these issues if he returns to the White House. However, he would need to start from scratch, which is a process that can take months or even years.
“This isn’t the way I wanted it to end,” said Melissa Byrne, an activist advocating for student debt cancellation. “Unfortunately, this is the most prudent action to take right now.”
Byrne attributed the situation to Republicans, stating, “It’s a bummer that we have a GOP that is committed to keeping working-class Americans in debt.”
In the documents regarding the withdrawal of the student loan proposals, the Education Department emphasized its authority to cancel the debt but indicated that it would prioritize other issues in the administration's final weeks. The focus will shift towards helping borrowers resume their payments following the pause instituted during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” the agency stated.
Regarding the regulation on transgender students, the department explained that it was withdrawing the proposal due to ongoing litigation about how Title IX, the significant law against sex discrimination, should address issues of gender identity. Furthermore, the department noted that it had received 150,000 public comments with diverse feedback, including suggestions for modifications that needed to be taken into account.
At this juncture, the department wrote, “We do not intend for a final rule to be issued.”
Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, accused the White House of “adding more red tape and making it more difficult for him to govern.”
“President Trump will not be deterred by their dirty tricks and will use every lever of power to reverse the damage Biden has done and implement his America First agenda,” Leavitt stated.
Kate Shaw, who served in the White House counsel’s office under President Barack Obama, mentioned that it’s not unusual for administrations to speed up or slow down rulemaking. She noted that it’s more typical for the federal government to race to finalize regulations during a transition period, but that can be challenging when there’s a time crunch.
"If you haven’t started it early enough, you’re not going to be able to wrap it up,” she said.
An administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, mentioned that the administration still supports the goals of its regulatory proposals. However, the process can be lengthy due to the need for legal reviews and public input.
Federal agencies are now analyzing which rules to finish and which to pull back before the end of Biden’s term. In recent years, presidents have increasingly relied on executive orders and federal regulations to bypass gridlock in Congress, but the rulemaking process tends to be less durable than legislation, making policies more susceptible to changes with new administrations.
There are numerous pending regulations across the Education Department and other agencies, ranging from minor updates to significant policies impacting the nation’s schools and businesses. If a rule has already undergone a public feedback process under Biden, Trump could replace it with his own proposal and move directly to enacting the policy, effectively skipping the comment period.
The pair of student loan proposals expected to be withdrawn marked Biden’s second attempt at widespread debt cancellation after the Supreme Court rejected his first plan. One proposal from April aimed to provide targeted debt relief to 30 million Americans, erasing accrued interest for those whose balances surged and forgiving loans for borrowers who had been repaying for 20 years or more. This proposal was halted by a federal judge in September following a lawsuit from Republican-led states, leaving it entangled in legal challenges.
The second rule being withdrawn was a proposal from October that would have permitted the Education Department to cancel loans for individuals facing hardships, such as overwhelming medical bills or child care costs. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, stated that Biden never had the authority to accomplish these goals.
Although Biden did not achieve the sweeping loan cancellations that he initially promised, his administration has forgiven an unprecedented $180 billion in federal student loans through existing programs.
“Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt,” Biden said in a statement.
On Friday, officials announced they were erasing debt for another 55,000 workers—including teachers, nurses, and law enforcement officials—through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The program promises to cancel loans for borrowers who spend 10 years in government or nonprofit jobs.
The $4.28 billion in relief is expected to be the final round of public service loan forgiveness before Biden leaves office in January.
Biden’s rule on transgender sports was proposed in 2023 but was delayed multiple times. It was supposed to be a follow-up to his broader rule that extended civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students under Title IX.
The sports rule would have prevented schools from banning transgender athletes outright while allowing limits for certain reasons—for example, if it was a matter of “fairness” in competition or to reduce injury risks.
Biden’s proposal left both sides of the issue asking for more. Advocates for transgender athletes said it didn’t go far enough in protecting transgender students from school policies that could unfairly exclude them. Opponents said it fell short of protecting girls and ensuring fairness.
The regulation sat on the back burner through the presidential campaign as the issue became a subject of Republican outrage. Trump campaigned on a promise to ban transgender athletes, with a promise to “keep men out of women’s sports.”
Had Biden’s proposal been finalized, it was certain to face legal challenges from conservatives who said Biden overstepped his authority. Biden’s broader policy on Title IX, which was finalized in April, faced a barrage of legal challenges that prevented it from taking effect in 26 states.
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