President Donald Trump signs an executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in female sports, claiming the war on women’s sports is over. And the State Department claims Panama is willing to waive fees on American ships using the Panama Canal, despite the Panamanian government saying otherwise. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.

Trump bans transgender athletes from women’s, girls’ sports

President Donald Trump followed through on another campaign promise Wednesday, Feb. 5. He signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. 

“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said.

He added, “This will effectively end the attack on female athletes at public K-12 schools and virtually all U.S. colleges and universities. I don’t think we missed anything, but if we do, we’ll make it up very quickly with an order.”

The order rolls back Biden administration guidance on Title IX, a civil rights law that prevents sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding 

“We're putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding.” –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/MUd6FAetWr

— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) February 6, 2025

The current measure, dubbed “No Men in Women’s Sports,” is the fourth executive order Trump has signed involving transgender people since taking office just over two weeks ago. Critics said the order addresses a problem that simply is not there. 

“First of all, the numbers, they don’t exist,” said activist and former professional cyclist Kristen Worley. “Understand that there’s 0.01% gender variant people living in our society as a whole, so it’s a very tiny, tiny group of people that he’s actually targeting, and certainly the numbers in terms of gender performance are filled with inaccuracies as well.” 

However, supporters of the order pointed to a trans swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania and a trans volleyball player at San Jose State as examples of men who transitioned to women and then dominated women’s sports. 

The executive order also stipulates that the Trump administration will work with sports governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, to ensure that guidance is followed in noneducational settings.

Democratic senators protest Vought’s nomination with overnight speech marathon

Democratic senators held the floor overnight Wednesday into Thursday to protest Russell Vought’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget. 

Republicans have the majority in the Senate, so they have consistently confirmed Trump’s nominees, even without Democratic approval. Vought was set to be confirmed for the job Wednesday night, but Democrats vowed to slow the process dramatically.

Democrats have warned about Vought’s ties to Project 2025, a conservative push to reshape the federal government. Trump has denied following its guidelines. 

We're holding the Senate floor all night to fight back against Trump’s nomination of Russell Vought.

America saw how bad OMB’s illegal, incompetent funding freeze was.

We want Americans to hear EVERY HOUR how bad the dangers are that he poses to their daily lives as OMB head. pic.twitter.com/ksJ2VG7nJX

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 6, 2025

Things came to a head after the OMB released a memo last week freezing federal funding. While the memo was rescinded not long after, Democrats said it was a warning sign for how Vought, who at least one Democratic senator has called Trump’s “most dangerous nominee,” would run the office, which plays a key role in enacting the president’s agenda. 

Senate Democrats began what they said would be a 30-hour protest Wednesday afternoon. Despite the protest, the full Senate will vote to confirm Vought as budget director Thursday evening. 

Vought previously held this position during Trump’s first term. Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota said he has a good working relationship with Vought and expects it to continue.

Panama denies US claim government vessels can transit canal for free

Hours after the State Department announced that American ships would be allowed to sail through the Panama Canal for free, Panama said that was not true.

In a post on Wednesday, the State Department said Secretary Marco Rubio had agreed with Panamanian leadership to allow the move, saving the federal government millions of dollars a year. Rubio had visited Panama this week. 

The Panama Canal Authority said it sets the tolls and other fees for crossing the canal and “has not made any adjustments to them.” The authority added that it is open to dialogue with the U.S.

Before taking office, Trump demanded that Panamanian authorities either lower fees for American ships using the Panama Canal or return its control to the U.S.

‘Sanctuary city’ mayors to testify before House committee

“Sanctuary city” mayors will testify before House lawmakers in an upcoming hearing on immigration policies, according to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky. 

Comer launched a probe into sanctuary policies, which allow a jurisdiction to limit its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officials when it comes to the Trump crackdown on illegal immigration. Mayors in major cities such as Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia have said they will not help.  

This comes as newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi hit the ground running on her first day in office Wednesday, ordering a pause in federal funding from the Justice Department for sanctuary cities. Straight Arrow News reporter Lauren Taylor has the details here. 

The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, among others, will appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 5 to discuss sanctuary policies.

New bird flu variation found in US dairy cattle

Testers have discovered a second bird flu variation in American dairy cows for the first time. 

The Department of Agriculture announced the new strain on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Until recently, all dairy herd detections in the U.S. had been infected with a form of bird flu known as B3.13.

This new version, D1.1, was previously detected only in wild birds and poultry, but has now spread to cows. 

It’s also the strain that’s been linked to a deadly human case in Louisiana last year after the victim was exposed to infected birds. 

Humans infected with D1.1 have experienced more severe symptoms than those with the previous bird flu strain. However, the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low, and there is no evidence of the spread of D1.1 from human to human.

AI ‘digitally unrolls’ 2,000-year-old scrolls burned in Vesuvius eruption

Using artificial intelligence, X-rays and CT scans, researchers have deciphered some words on an ancient scroll burned by lava from Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. 

The rolled-up papyrus scrolls were found in a mansion in Herculaneum, an ancient town near Pompeii, in the mid-1700s. Researchers attempted to unfurl them for more than two centuries to see what was inside and what they said.

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The few scrolls they could open contained philosophical writing in ancient Greek. Others were so severely damaged by the lava that they were illegible — until now. 

On Wednesday, specialists at Oxford University in London announced a significant breakthrough. Technicians used a massive machine called a synchrotron to create a powerful X-ray beam that could look inside a fragile scroll without damaging it. The Oxford scholars are now continuing to decipher the text on this scroll.