The House has passed a bill that would ban institutions from allowing biological males to participate in any sports team or league that is designated for women and girls, with two Democrats joining all Republicans to support the bill. 

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, is one of the first pieces of legislation to make its way through the House in the new Congress, helping to set the tone for what could be a contentious two years on Capitol Hill. Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar — two members from Trump-won district in South Texas — voted for the legislation, while Congressman Don Davis voted present. 

“This is a great day for women in America,” Speaker Johnson said after the vote. “We know from Scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women, and men cannot become women. It’s sad that we have to say that. It’s a matter of biology.”

The passage comes just days after a federal judge struck down the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite requiring that schools include biological males in women’s and girls’ sports, a decision that is almost certainly not going to be taken up on appeal by the incoming administration.  

The legislation passed Tuesday states that gender, with respect to Title IX, will be defined solely as a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. Any entity that receives government funding will be forced to comply with the legislation’s provisions should it pass the Senate and make its way to President Trump’s desk. 

One Democratic lawmaker, Congressman Seth Moulton, came under fire in November for saying in an interview with the New York Times that he did not want his daughters to be playing sports with biological males. That assertion led local Democrats to begin calling for him to resign. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Moulton said he would vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act despite being open to some restrictions on transgender athletes competing. 

“I firmly believe that there should be reasonable restrictions on transgender athletes in competitive sports. This is a matter of safety and fairness for female athletes who have worked exceptionally hard to compete. There is no denying that there are biological differences that result from being born male,” Mr. Moulton said. 

He warned, however, that Tuesday’s bill was too broad. “Because [the bill] fails to distinguish between children and adults and different levels of athletics, school-aged kids who simply want to play recreational sports and build camaraderie like everybody else could be targeted by the federal government,” he argued. 

Because the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act deals with the dispersing of federal funds, there is a chance that it could make its way into the looming reconciliation bill, or bills, that are due to be taken up by Republicans in the coming months.

Through the process of reconciliation, the Senate can pass legislation that deals with government funding issues on a pure majority basis, meaning Democrats would not have the opportunity to filibuster the legislation. The ultimate decision about whether or not the bill substantially deals with spending issues lies with the Senate Parliamentarian.