Attorney General Pam Bondi warned Maine on Tuesday that it must comply with federal law protecting girls’ sports from males.
Bondi issued letters to officials in Maine, Minnesota, and California following pushback from left-wing lawmakers and state officials who have refused to comply with the president’s executive order banning men from women’s sports and spaces.
“This Department of Justice will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law,” Bondi said Tuesday. “We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s Executive Order protecting women’s sports.”
Her letter reminds these officials that Trump’s executive order states that allowing men and boys to compete in women’s and girls’ sports is “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.”
“The practice is also illegal under federal law: it denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports, in violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972.”
The move follows a rather dramatic scene at the White House on Friday, when President Donald Trump challenged Maine Governor Janet Mills (D.) for refusing to follow the law on males in girls’ sports. On Saturday, The Daily Wire reported that Mills’ chief of staff cursed at a Trump official over the same topic and stormed out of the room. Mills’ office denied that Jeremy Kennedy cursed and refused to return more requests for comment.