On International Women’s Day, Biden signs executive orders on gender equity, Title IX policies
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden marked International Women’s Day Monday by signing two executive orders creating a Gender Policy Council and reviewing Trump-era changes to Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education, according to administration officials.
The first order establishes the White House Gender Policy Council to work with other policy councils to advance gender equality in domestic and foreign policy development, combat systemic bias and discrimination, including sexual harassment, and focus on increasing female participation in the labor force and decreasing wage and wealth gaps, the officials said.
The council will also focus on transgender rights and supporting care workers, predominantly women of color.
Officials pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic has hit women the hardest: 2.5 million left the workforce in 2020 compared with 1.8 million men who did the same. The U.S. Department of Labor’s February jobs report released Friday found Black and Hispanic women showed the greatest declines in labor force participation.
passage of the president’s COVID-19 relief plan as an initial step to assist women affected by the pandemic, including direct payments of $1,400 and an increase in the child care tax credit. ‘Dinner table’ politics: Why Joe Biden ditched bipartisan dealmaking to pass his COVID-19 relief bill
More:Some House liberals aren’t happy with Senate version of COVID-19 relief package. Here’s what changed
The order explicitly directs the department to evaluate Title IX changes by President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy Devos, who dismantled Obama-era rules on sexual discrimination and harassment in federally funded education programs. She implemented regulations that altered the handling of sexual assault allegations on college campuses, giving schools more latitude in deciding whether to report accusations to the Title IX office.
As vice president, Biden led the Obama administration’s “It’s On Us” campaign to prevent sexual assault on campus, often visiting colleges to raise awareness. The president said the Violence Against Women Act of 1990, which aims to protect women from gender-based violence, was one of the pieces of legislation he was “most proud” of during his 36 years in the Senate.
Betsy DeVos vowed to change American education. For the most part, she didn’t.