Last week, at an excellent and well-attended ATIXA conference at which I had the honor of speaking, ATIXA leadership reported hearing hints that the U.S. Department of Education intends to drop the new Title IX regulations at or near Thanksgiving. Why would they possibly do that? Because, as some speculate, we Americans are notoriously inattentive when we are stuffed with turkey and enjoying the company of our family and friends. If you’re going to release a cannonball of a regulation, the holidays are a great time to attempt to minimize the splash if ED wished to do so. Well, guess what? That prophecy looks like it might have some teeth.

In case you missed it, ATIXA President Brett Sokolow tweeted yesterday with a link to the Office of Management and Budget website announcing that the Title IX regulations have made their way to OMB for final approval. The Office has 90 days for its review unless that timeframe is extended, but there is no minimum period for review. So, it’s at least feasible that the review process could be completed in time for turkey day. OMB has scheduled two EO 12866 meetings with the Pennsylvania Attorney General and Legal Momentum over the next two weeks. Those are meetings between OMB and “interested parties” to discuss the rule under review. There also are many possible outcomes from OMB’s review, including a return of the regulations to ED or Congressional intervention, so who knows where this will go (or when). But there is at least a chance that we may all get a Thanksgiving gift from the Department if OMB’s review is quick—whether we are thankful for it or not.

We will continue to stay on top of this issue and will bring you comprehensive reviews of the final regulations if and when they are published. If you haven’t already, subscribe to receive alerts from our blog so that you don’t miss a thing. You can do so on our homepage under “Stay Connected.”

Update: Since publication, OMB scheduled numerous EO 12866 meetings for December, so it seems less likely we will receive a Turkey-day Title IX gift. Maybe Christmas….