The proposal would also amend the rules that govern how educational institutions investigate and resolve claims of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Over concerns that people were being wrongfully punished, President Donald Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, revised the rules to make them more accommodating to the accused. Critics assailed the changes, saying they would discourage sexual assault survivors from coming forward to report assaults or harassment.

“Our goal is to give full effect to the law’s reach and to deliver on its promise to protect all students from sex-based harassment and discrimination,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “Every student deserves to learn free from discrimination and harassment, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.”......

Now the Biden administration wants to use it to cement protections for transgender students. If the proposal is realized, it would compel schools to accommodate transgender students by allowing them to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, ban bullying based on their gender identity and ensure they are addressed by their correct pronouns. Schools that do not rectify the problem are subject to investigations and risk losing their federal funding.

The moves come as conservatives across the country fight to exclude transgender students from sports, outlaw gender-affirming medical treatments and purge libraries of books with LGBTQ characters. As of March, state legislators had filed more than 200 bills seeking to erode the rights of transgender students or restrict discussion about LGTBQ issues in classes.

Conservatives reject this interpretation, saying discrimination against transgender students is not a violation of Title IX and have argued in lawsuits that certain accommodations — like permitting transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity — violate the privacy of their cisgender classmates.

Federal investigators conducted a search Wednesday of the home of Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department lawyer who former President Donald Trump sought to install as attorney general in the days before the January 6 Capitol riot as top officials refused to go along with his false vote fraud claims, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Clark was at the center of an effort by Trump to get the Justice Department to falsely claim there was enough voter fraud in Georgia and other states that he lost, in a last-minute bid to help sow doubt about Joe Biden's victory and pave the way for him to remain in power.
A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Washington confirmed that "there was law enforcement activity in the vicinity" of Clark's home but declined to comment on any particular person or activity.

Attorneys for Clark didn't respond to requests for comment.

Federal investigators subpoenaed the Georgia Republican Party chairman for information related to the fake elector scheme there -- as the Justice Department has issued a fresh round of subpoenas to people from several states who acted as rogue electors after the 2020 presidential election, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

The subpoena for the chairman, David Shafer, represents a significant step because he played a central role in organizing the fake slate of electors from Georgia and coordinated the effort with the Trump campaign.

The focus on Shafer also comes as sources tell CNN the Justice Department subpoenaed Trump electors this week in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania -- all states that former President Donald Trump lost.

The Justice Department has been scrutinizing the Trump campaign's use of so-called alternate electors. The new round of subpoenas represents an escalation of a criminal probe that, before now, had approached lower-level Republicans. All along, however, federal investigators have pursued information about political figures higher up, including at the top of the Trump campaign.