▶ Watch Video: Justice Department sues Maine in legal feud over transgender athletes
Washington — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday that the Justice Department is filing a civil lawsuit against Maine’s Department of Education for “discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports” in what she alleged is a violation of Title IX.
“The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports,” Bondi said. “This is about sports, this is also about these young womens’ personal safety.”
The move marks an escalation between the Trump administration and Maine over the issue. President Trump signed an executive order in February to ban transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, mandating that Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, be interpreted as prohibiting the participation of transgender girls and women in female sports. President Trump said states not in compliance would jeopardize any federal funding they receive.
Then, in a tense moment between Mr. Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, later in February, the president threatened that her state wouldn’t get federal funding if it didn’t comply with the executive order barring transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams. Mills replied, “See you in court.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who appeared alongside Bondi on Wednesday, said “I hope Gov. Mills will recognize that her political feud with the president will deprive the students in her state of much more than the right to fair sporting events.”
The attorney general outlined that the Justice Department had “exhausted every other remedy,” saying it has “repeatedly notified Maine of its infractions and urged them to remedy the situation to protect women.” Bondi noted that the administration has stripped grants to Maine through other agencies, and would “continue to fight for women.”
The federal government said in its lawsuit filed in Maine’s federal court that the state’s Department of Education is “openly and defiantly flouting anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls,” arguing that the practice violates Title IX’s “core protections.” It cited three examples of boys participating in girls sports.
“The United States accordingly files this action to stop Maine’s unapologetic sex-discrimination against female student athletes,” the Justice Department said in the lawsuit.
Mills pledged to “vigorously defend our state against the action announced today from the Department of Justice” in a statement Wednesday, arguing that the fight isn’t about women’s sports, but “states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will.”
“Let today serve as warning to all states: Maine might be among the first to draw the ire of the Federal government in this way, but we will not be the last,” Mills said.
Last week, the state of Maine secured a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, blocking the Agriculture Department from “terminating, freezing, or otherwise interfering with the State’s access to federal funds based on alleged Title IX violations without following the process required by federal statute.” The lawsuit was brought by Maine after the Trump administration cut funds for administrative and technological funds in the state’s schools.
The Justice Department’s actions against Maine may be followed by similar moves in other states, Bondi said.
“We’re looking at Minnesota, we’re looking at California,” Bondi said. “We’re looking at many, many states, but they are the top two that should be on notice.”
