Justice Department Sues Maine Over Title IX and Girls' Sports, Bondi and McMahon Announce
April 16, 2025 · The Justice Department · 0:29:21
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What happened
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that the Department of Justice is filing a civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education, saying the state is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports in violation of Title IX, according to the Justice Department announcement. Bondi, joined by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Maine athletes and advocates including Riley Gaines, said the department had exhausted every other remedy, repeatedly notified Maine of its infractions and stripped grants through other departments before suing, as stated in her remarks.
Bondi laid out a timeline, saying that in February 2024 a biological male began competing in Maine girls’ ski and cross-country races, winning a 5K with a time that would have placed 43rd among boys, and that in February 2025 a biological male won the girls’ pole vault at Maine’s indoor track and field meet, taking a regional championship spot from a young woman, according to the announcement. She recalled the February 21, 2025 governors’ meeting where Governor Janet Mills told President Trump, in Bondi’s recounting, ‘We’ll see you in court,’ and read from a Maine attorney general letter refusing to sign a resolution agreement and stating the state was at an impasse, as stated in her remarks.
McMahon said the Education Department’s investigation found Maine continues to willfully violate Title IX and strip the civil rights of female athletes, leaving no choice but referral to the Justice Department, according to the announcement. She said the case follows President Trump’s February 5 executive order keeping men out of women’s sports, which directed federally funded programs to cease allowing males in women’s sports, and that Trump explicitly warned Maine it would risk losing federal funding, as stated in her remarks.
Bondi said the suit seeks an injunction to stop Maine’s practices, the return of titles to the young women who rightfully won them, and consideration of retroactively pulling funding Maine received while not complying, according to the announcement. Maine athletes Zoe Hutcherson and Cassidy Carlisle also spoke about competing against and changing alongside biological males, as shown in the video.
Why it matters
The Maine lawsuit is the administration’s first Title IX sports case taken to court after a public standoff with a governor, and its requested remedies — injunction, returned titles, retroactive funding — set the template for other noncomplying states.
Scoreboard watch
The Justice Department’s suit against the Maine Department of Education will proceed in federal court, where Maine’s position that Title IX does not bar transgender girls from girls’ teams can be tested against the administration’s reading of the law.
Sources: The Justice Department, “A.G. Pamela Bondi Announces Enforcement Actions Against the State of Maine for Violating Title IX”, 2025-04-16 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-04-16). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.
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