On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that a lawsuit was being filed by the Department of Justice against Maine’s Department of Education. The lawsuit claims that the Department of Education discriminated “against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports.” Bondi claimed that this discrimination violated Title 1X. This latest step by the Trump administration escalates issues between Washington and Maine. It also escalates Trump’s campaign against transgender people.
Bondi Claims It is About Safety
“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 women’s personal safety.” In February, Trump signed an executive order that banned transgender girls/women from participating on a sports team that did not match their gender. He designated the order Title 1X. Trump said that states that did not comply would risk losing federal funding.
Mills And Trump Have a Tense Moment
In mid-February, Trump and Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, had a tense moment after Trump threatened to take away federal funding if the state did not comply with the order. Mills stood her ground and replied, “See you in court.”
Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, appeared with Bondi on Wednesday, stating that she hoped “Gov. Mills will recognize that her political feud with the president would deprive the students in her state of much more than the right to a fair sporting event.”
Linda McMahon’s Husband Accused
Linda McMahon is not someone who should be speaking up about women’s right or their safety. McMahon’s husband, Vince McMahon, who owned and ran World Wrestling Entertainment, has been repeatedly accused of crimes against women.
In 1992, McMahon was accused of rape by Rita Chatterton. He was accused of groping a salon employee in 2006. In 2022, it was revealed that he had reached three settlements behind closed doors, one of which was about a former talent who had accused him of sexual assault. Several other women have come forward to say they accepted money to remain quiet about having sexual relationships or being sexually assaulted by McMahon.
Grants Already Taken From Maine
According to the attorney general’s office, 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.”
Lawsuit filed in Maine Federal Court
The lawsuit was filed in Maine’s federal court. In the lawsuit, the federal government said that Maine’s Department of Education “openly and defiantly flouting anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls.”
The bill goes on to state that Maine has violated the core protections of Title X. It goes on to cite three examples. “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.
Gov. Mills To Stand Her Ground
Gov. Mills pledged to “vigorously defend our state against the action announced today from the Department of Justice” in a statement Wednesday.“Let today serve as a 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 added.
Maine Gets Restraining Order
Maine was able to acquire a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration last week. The restraining order blocks 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.”
Maine brought the lawsuit after the Trump administration cut funding for administrative and technological funds in all of the state’s schools. “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.”
