HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Trump administration said Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated laws guaranteeing women equal opportunities in athletics by letting a transgender swimmer compete on the school's women's team and into team facilities. The department said Penn violated Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in schools and colleges, by "denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women's intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities." The Trump administration in March suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for Penn over its decision to let Thomas compete, the White House has said. In 2022, the NCAA used a sport-by-sport approach to allowing transgender athletes to participate, deferring to an individual sport's national governing organization, international federation or prior established International Olympic Committee criteria. It also sued the state of Maine to force it to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports or face prosecution.