The White House Office of Special Counsel recommended severe sanctions for current and former Department of Education employees, "up to and including removal," for their roles in a newly confirmed scheme to violate a court injunction against the Biden administration's Title IX regulation, which added "gender identity" to the meaning of "sex."

Chief Counsel Charles Baldis told President Trump in a letter made public Wednesday that the department didn't go far enough with its "corrective steps" in response to officials in the Biden administration, some of whom might have remained under President Trump, who threatened the federal funding of school districts that resisted the regulation's novel view of "sex" after a court blocked the regulation nearly four years ago.

He called for "more robust action [...] to ensure accountability and prevent recurrence," including "expeditiously" completing its investigation and punishing employees, "including senior officials," found to have "participated in, directed, assisted, or concealed efforts to defy the court’s injunction."

The department should also consider "a monetary reward" for the whistleblower, Baldis said.

While his name is redacted in the letter, the whistleblower was previously identified as Kansas City Office for Civil Rights attorney Timothy Mattson. He's represented by whistleblower advocacy group Empower Oversight, which told Just the News Wednesday it was surprised by the "stronger corrective actions" recommended by Baldis.

Mattson had accused national Office for Civil Rights Director Catherine Lhamon, who held the role in both Obama and Biden administrations, of "prohibited personnel practices" against him when he disclosed OCR's violation of the injunction "to his chain of command."

Baldis emphasized "the significance of the disclosure, his perseverance and the risks he took in coming forward, and the strength of ED’s substantiation."

The department should also complete a "comprehensive, independent audit of all OCR enforcement actions taken in
enjoined states during the relevant period to identify and remedy any additional instances of non-compliance" and provide "full transparency" to OSC, Congress and the public on what it finds and what discipline and remedial action it takes, Baldis said.

The materials Baldis referenced are on OSC's case page.