(NewsNation) — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday the Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against Maine's Department of Education for “discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women's sports."
Maine has not complied with President Donald Trump's executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls sports.
Bondi said the government is "seeking an injunction to get them to stop this," as well as titles returned to female athletes who she claims "rightfully won these sports" against trans competitors.
"And we are also considering whether to retroactively pull all the funding that they have received for not complying in the past,” Bondi said.
Bondi was joined by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, state Rep. Laurel Libbey, R-Maine, and multiple female student-athletes who shared their experiences, including Riley Gaines.
Trump said any state that allows trans athletes to compete against girls and women is in violation of Title IX, which governs equal treatment of students based on gender. A state or institution that defies his order is at risk of funding cuts.
“We have exhausted every other remedy. We tried to get Maine to comply. We don’t like standing up here and filing lawsuits,” Bondi said.
Bondi outlined a timeline of notifications to Maine about its enforcement of Title IX. According to Bondi, she issued a letter to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Feb. 25 that warned the state to comply.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education then "opened investigations in an attempt to get them to comply," Bondi said.
Maine refused to comply throughout March.
On April 4, the DOJ and the Education Department announced the creation of the Title IX Special Investigations team.
Mills has said her state's law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity supersedes Trump's executive order, and told the president at a February luncheon they'd see each other in court.
In late March, a group of school officials in Maine said they would not comply with Trump’s executive order but would instead “continue to follow state law and the Maine Human Rights Act.”
In a statement, the Maine Principal’s Association said its members “are bound by the law, including the Maine Human Rights Act, which our participation policy reflects.”
The Trump administration has already frozen millions of dollars for Maine nutrition programs. A federal judge ordered the funds reinstated while the state sues.