One of the country’s most notorious anti-Trump governors will now reap what she sowed: a civil rights lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Tuesday.
Appearing at a press conference, the top Trump law enforcement official said Maine’s Department of Education will be the focus of a lawsuit contending that state officials under Democratic Governor Janet Mills failed to preserve the safety of young girls forced to compete in school sports leagues with transgender athletes.
“Today, the Department of Justice is announcing a civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education,” Bondi said. “The State of Maine is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports — pretty basic stuff.”
The dispute between Mills and President Donald Trump became national news after a February confrontation between the two executives during a national conference of governors. Trump’s appeal for Mills to follow his administration’s orders on Title IX enforcement drew an acerbic retort from the Democrat.
“See you in court,” she replied.
On Wednesday, Bondi promised to give Mills her wish.
“This is a violation of Title IX, the Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports,” she continued. “This is also about these young women’s personal safety.
“I have met many of these women throughout these past weeks and months, and what they have been through is horrific. We have exhausted every other remedy.”
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The DOJ’s suit comes after the Trump administration has already frozen federal funds intended for Maine’s DOE, a move that Mills has decried as unlawful.
However, some institutions like the University of Maine have sought a workaround, appealing directly to the U.S. Department of Education by terminating its support for transgender athletic participation. The decision potentially reopens the state’s flagship school system to continue receiving $30 million in annual appropriations.
Bondi was joined at the press conference by Riley Gaines, the former collegiate champion swimmer who has become a an advocate for biological sex differentiation in sports. Gaines recently drew attention to the case of Stephanie Turner, a female collegiate fencer who bowed a knee rather than cross swords with a transgender opponent, and who was also in attendance.
“It’s sad that this has to be a political issue, and I think this was a missed opportunity by the Democrats to garner support among the vast majority of the United States.” Turner said of the press conference, Fox News reported. “I’m so grateful that we have an administration that is taking this issue seriously.”
President Trump has already signed an executive order in February banning the participation of biological men in women’s sports. The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth, according to the AP.
In addition to its suit in Maine, the Trump administration has launched investigations into Denver Public Schools amid allegations that it replaced an all-girls bathroom with one allowing all genders. President Trump has also issued a warning to the International Olympic Committee against including transgender athletes in women’s categories at the 2028 Games, set to be held in Los Angeles.
