Soon-to-be-ousted Pam Bondi sues Minnesota for letting trans athletes play in school sports

Update: Trump fires staunch defender Pam Bondi

Even amid reports of her impending ouster as attorney general, Pam Bondi’s Justice Department has opened a new front against transgender athletes in Minnesota.

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The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed a federal lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League, arguing the state’s current policies unlawfully disadvantage cisgender female athletes under federal law.

The lawsuit alleges that allowing transgender women to compete against athletes assigned female at birth violates the rights of other women competitors and conflicts with the administration’s interpretation of Title IX anti-discrimination protections. The complaint follows reasoning outlined in an executive order issued by President Donald Trump restricting transgender athletes’ participation in school sports.

“The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignore biological reality and unfairly undermine girls on the playing field,” Bondi said. “This Department of Justice is proud to partner with HHS and the Department of Education to protect our girls in Minnesota and across the country.”

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Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Civil Rights Division, said Minnesota wrongly defied both Trump’s order and existing federal law.

“In service of radical gender ideology, Minnesota’s actions violate Title IX and deny female athletes their hard-earned trophies, records, dignity, and safety.”

The Minnesota Department of Education receives roughly $3 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, funding that the administration has suggested could be jeopardized amid the dispute over transgender participation in sports. Both Education Secretary Linda McMahon and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued statements supporting the lawsuit.

The Minnesota Education Department received $3 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Education Department and the Health and Human Services Department, but that could be at risk over the disagreement with the Trump administration over trans participation in sports. Both Education Secretary Linda McMahon and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. issued their own statements supporting the lawsuit.

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But Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison signaled the state will fight the lawsuit, framing it as part of an ongoing political and legal campaign. He dismissed the latest action as “a sad attempt to get attention over something that's already been in litigation for months.”

The legal clash is not new. Kennedy and McMahon previously announced federal action against Minnesota in January, setting the stage for a protracted court battle over the issue.

“It is astonishing that any president would try to target, shame, and harass children just trying to be themselves, let alone a president with so many actual problems to address,” Ellison said.

The filing also lands at a precarious moment for Bondi. Multiple outlets have reported that Trump is weighing her removal over the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. According to The New York Times, the president is considering replacing the Florida Republican with Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Politico and Reuters have reported similar discussions.