A divided House on Tuesday approved legislation that aims to bar transgender women and girls from participating in school athletic programs designated for female students, as Republicans sought to wring political opportunity from a social issue that helped them win the 2024 elections.
The bill, approved almost entirely along party lines on a vote of 218 to 206, would prohibit federal funding from going to K-12 schools that include transgender students on women’s sports teams. It faces a steep challenge in the Senate, where seven Democrats would have to join Republicans to move it past a filibuster and to a final vote.
Just two Democrats joined all Republicans in voting in favor in the House, while another Democrat voted “present,” declining to register a position.
Republicans on Tuesday presented the legislation, which they also pushed through during the last Congress, as a popular and pragmatic way to level the playing field for…
