The Trump administration paused funding for the University of Pennsylvania over its policy on transgender athletes.

The freezing of $175 million in federal funds out of roughly $1 billion is a major blow to the school. A senior administration official told Fox Business that the pause wasn’t related to a Title IX investigation, which could strip the university of all $1 billion in federal funds.

Recommended Stories

• Trump administration gives Maine deadline to resolve Title IX violations over transgender athletes
• Harvard to make tuition free for students whose parents make less than $200,000
• DHS arrests second Columbia student involved in anti-Israel protests, another self-deports

“The Trump administration has ‘paused $175 million in federal funding from the University of Pennsylvania’ over its policies forcing women to compete with men in sports,” the White House’s rapid reaction X account posted.

“Promises made, promises kept,” it added.

UPenn has been one of the most visible faces of the transgender athlete controversy since swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a woman, competed in the 2022 season and won a national championship title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. The incident and backlash sparked a national conversation about the fairness of biological men in women’s sports.

The federal fund freeze and government investigation aren’t the only problems for UPenn related to Thomas and the school’s transgender inclusion policy.

Last month, UPenn alumni Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski, and Ellen Holmquist sued their alma mater, the NCAA, Harvard University, and the Ivy League Council of Presidents regarding their experience on the same team as Thomas.

FORMER UPENN ATHLETES SUE SCHOOL TO GET LIA THOMAS RECORDS EXPUNGED

They argued that being forced to compete with Thomas “injured them and violated federal law,” according to court documents obtained by Fox News. The plaintiffs are demanding Thomas’s records be vacated and that UPenn declare that Thomas was ineligible to compete on the women’s swim team.

“The Ivy League’s plan was to crown a man as a women’s champion in one of the most iconic swimming venues in America as scores of national and international journalists described the scene as a landmark civil rights accomplishment to be venerated,” the lawsuit said. “To bring its vision to fruition, the Ivy League engaged in a season-long pressure campaign to keep Thomas eligible to compete and prevent women from speaking up for their equal rights.”