Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - The Trump administration said Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated the law by allowing transgender swimmers to participate in the school’s women’s team and enter team facilities, thus ensuring women’s equality in track and field.

The government's statement did not name trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who last attended the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022 and was the first publicly trans athlete to win the I Division I title that year - the Thomas Awards are now facing a loss.

However, the investigation started in February by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office and focused on Thomas, the main symbol of trans athletes and an outstanding political goal for Republicans and President Donald Trump.

Pennsylvania violated Title IX, which banned gender discrimination in schools and universities, “by allowing men to reject equal opportunities for women in facilities where women compete in inter-college sports and occupy women’s intimacy.”

Pennsylvania did not comment immediately on Monday, but Pennsylvania has said in the past that it always follows the NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding students' participation in athletic teams, including Thomas Swam and currently.

Pennsylvania has 10 days of voluntary resolution of violations or risk prosecution, the department said. The department hopes Penn will issue a statement saying it will comply with Title IX; effectively deprive Thomas of any award or record in the Division I swimming competition; and apologize to each female swimmer, "Their personal recognition has been restored, and apologizes on behalf of the university for allowing her educational experience with sexual discrimination in track and field."

The White House said the Trump administration suspended about $175 million in federal funding in the Pennsylvania decision in March’s decision to get Thomas to compete. The Ivy League federal funds come from the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2022, the NCAA uses a sport-by-sport approach to allow transgender athletes to participate, postpone standards for individual sports, international federations or pre-established International Olympic Committee.

Thomas competed under these guidelines, which allowed female trans swimmers to complete a year of hormone replacement therapy for competitions.

The NCAA changed its policy the day after signing an executive order on February 5, which aims to ban trans athletes from participating in girls and women's sports. This ends one of its competitive practices, supporting a general policy that only allows athletes to allocate women to women’s sports when they are born.

The Department of Education also opened comments from San Jose State University Volleyball, Denver Public Schools, Portland Public Schools, Oregon School Activities Association and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. It also sued Maine for forcing it to ban trans athletes from participating in girls and women's sports or face prosecution.