July 26, 2023

The Honorable Tom Vilsack

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250

Secretary Vilsack,
I’m writing to you today because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), under
your leadership, is punishing children in need by taking away their free school lunches. You are
threatening children from low-income households with malnutrition simply because they attend a
school guided by a set of beliefs, including religious convictions, that conflict with USDA’s
recent, radical redefinition of Title IX. As a result of your new “departmental regulation,” USDA
now interprets the word “sex” in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Under USDA’s updated Title IX compliance rules, schools that engage in “sex discrimination,”
which seemingly includes schools that prevent biological male children from using girls’
restrooms, are no longer eligible to participate in USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
programs.
In December 2022, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) blocked preschoolers
enrolled at the Church of Compassion’s Dayspring Learning Center from qualifying for free
lunches provided by USDA’s Child and Adult Food Care Program simply because the preschool
objected to the USDA’s new sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rule. About 40
percent of the children at Dayspring are low-income and, before they were denied access to
federal nutritional assistance, qualified for USDA’s Child and Adult Food Care Program. For
nearly twenty years, Dayspring had used the program to provide students in need with regular
meals. As recently as 2022, that aid amounted to between $3,500 and $4,000 a month – until, as
a result of your federal rule, it was cut off.
USDA’s SOGI rule has been used to strip Dayspring Learning Center of religious conscience
protections guaranteed by the First Amendment. Dayspring has been denied equal access to
federal funding for adhering to long-established Christian doctrine.
Congress passed Title IX to give female students and athletes equal opportunity and USDA’s
SOGI rule unilaterally overturns Congress’s original intent. Under USDA’s new definition of
“sex,” Title IX can be used to deny financial assistance to schools because they let female
student-athletes compete on an equal playing field.
Of course, USDA comprises just one part of this administration’s comprehensive attack on the
definition of “sex,” and the U.S. Department of Education also redefined the term in Title IX to
include sexual orientation and gender identity. In his appearance before the House Education and
Workforce Committee, Secretary Cardona, whom I have sent a copy of this letter, refused to tell
me whether he advocated withholding National School Lunch Program funds from Indiana
schools that did not comply with the Biden Education Department’s SOGI rule.
Secretary Vilsack and Secretary Cardona, please send my office the answers to the following
question no later than August 30, 2023.
Secretary Vilsack, your adherence to the deadline is particularly important, as your timely
response will provide me with important context before Congress considers the Farm Bill in the
fall.
 Yes or no: would your Department’s Title IX SOGI rule change block religious schools,
including Christian, Jewish, or Muslim institutions, from participating in USDA’s Food
and Nutrition Service programs, as well as other related programs?
 Title IX exempts religious schools from rules that would constitute a violation of their
faith. Why is this administration, as well as state-level agencies tasked with administering
federal programs, not honoring these exemptions?
 Yes or no: would your Department’s Title IX SOGI rule change prevent Indiana public
schools with female-only sports teams and locker rooms from participating in your
department’s nutritional assistance programs?
 Nearly 30 million schoolchildren across the country rely on FNS programs for breakfast
and lunch costs. Is it truly this administration’s position that those children do not deserve
nutrition because their school disagrees with the Biden administration’s redefinition of
the word “sex”?

Sincerely,

_________________
Jim Banks
Member of Congress
Cc:

The Honorable Miguel Cardona

Secretary of Education
Department of Education Building
400 Maryland Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20202