The Department of Education referred its Minnesota transgender athletes investigation to the Justice Department on Monday, a major step toward pulling funding for the Democrat-run state’s education and high school sports agencies.
Minnesota has so far refused to negotiate with the Trump administration on the issue after the federal government found that the state violated Title IX by allowing boys to compete against girls. Now, Minnesota is close to losing its federal funding from the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, The Daily Caller reported. The DOJ referral comes as the Trump administration targets Minnesota in its immigration enforcement operation and over allegations of massive fraud.
“As Minnesota reels from a fraud scandal, @GovTimWalz is fighting to keep men in women’s sports,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote on X. “Now, he’ll have to make his case in court.”
The Education Department and HHS said last September that their investigation found the Minnesota State High School League was in violation of Title IX by allowing boys who identified as girls to compete against girls in high school sports. Minnesota was the center of a sports controversy last spring when a male pitcher dominated the girls’ state softball tournament. The Trump administration also said that Minnesota allowed boys to compete against girls in Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, lacrosse, track and field, and volleyball.
The Minnesota Department of Education has argued that Title IX “requires schools provide transgender students with the right to participate in…athletics in a manner consistent with their gender identity” and that “transgender and gender nonconforming students should be afforded the opportunity to use the restroom of their choice” — positions that directly contradict the Trump administration’s interpretation of the law.
“Despite repeated opportunities to comply with Title IX, Minnesota has chosen defiance – continuing to jeopardize the safety of women and girls, deny them fair competition, and erode their right to equal access in educational programs and activities,” McMahon told The Daily Caller.
“The Trump Administration will not stop until accountability is delivered for Minnesota’s students,” she added.
Minnesota leftist Attorney General Keith Ellison sued the Trump administration over the president’s executive order on keeping men out of women’s sports, arguing that the Trump administration is “bullying vulnerable children.” Ellison said last year that Trump does not have the authority to override Minnesota state law that allows trans-identifying athletes to compete in sports categories that match their gender identities.
Trump signed an executive order in February banning boys and men from competing against female athletes, threatening to strip federal funding from states that don’t obey the order. The Trump administration has also gone after Maine and California for violating Title IX protections for women and girls.
