DOJ Asks Appeals Court to Lift Injunction Against Administration's Transgender School Bathroom Ruling

On Friday, Jan. 6, lawyers for the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed papers with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a federal judge's injunction against the Obama administration's 2016 school bathroom ruling, which gave transgender students free choice to use the facility they preferred. The injunction was issued by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor after several states filed a lawsuit against the federal mandate, saying it had not been legally implemented. In their papers, administration lawyers countered that the action was merely an interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and not new rulemaking. Therefore, the action could not have violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), which requires public hearings on new rules, as the states' lawsuit argued.