The new rule establishes protections for those accused of campus sexual harassment and assault -- including rights to question evidence and cross-examine their accusers -- that critics argue may discourage victims from coming forward.
In a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Reps. Jackie Speier, Ayanna Pressley and Brenda Lawrence asked for documents and communications pertaining to the rules' development, some dating to 2017, by July 3. All of the Democrats on the committee, the letter noted, had requested the same documents in February.
The department in February responded that legal authorities prevented them from commenting on a rule after it was been proposed and before it was published in its final form. The lawmakers on Monday dismissed that response as "without merit."
The department published the final rule in May "without providing any of the documents or information requested in our letter," the four representatives wrote on Monday, stressing their ongoing concerns that the rule will "curtail investigations of sexual misconduct."
"As Members of the Committee and leaders of the Democratic Women's Caucus, we are troubled by the Department's decision to finalize this harmful rule while stonewalling appropriate oversight of the rulemaking process," the group wrote. They also called the department's decision to finalize the rule during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic "alarming and irresponsible."
CNN has reached out to the Education Department for comment.
The four lawmakers' request comes on the heels of 18 states, as well as Washington, DC, challenging the rule in federal court earlier this month.
The new regulations, which are set to go into effect on August 14, narrow the definition of sexual misconduct on campuses. They define sexual harassment as a "school employee conditioning education benefits on participation in unwelcome sexual conduct," "unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would determine is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the school's education program or activity" or "sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking."
Under the new regulation, schools will have to investigate the allegations in any formal complaint but dismiss any allegations of conduct that doesn't meet the definition of sexual harassment -- which the final rule defines differently than do federal laws defining sexual harassment in the workplace, and more narrowly than did the Obama administration's guidelines for schools.
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Democratic lawmakers again demand Education Department documents on Title IX - CNN
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