The Education Department will launch an investigation into Maine over its policy forcing female athletes to compete against biological males in sporting events.
Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon announced the investigation during an appearance on Fox News. The conversation focused on a recent news story about a female fencer refusing to compete against a trans-identified male that garnered national attention. McMahon said forcing females to compete against men is “just not fair.”
What I'm announcing today is that we have a special Title IX investigations team that is going to be investigating anyone who is associated with this to make sure that this doesn't continue to happen. This is a combination. This team is a combination between Department of Education and the Department of Justice. The President has made crystal clear that he is not going to tolerate men being able to compete in women's sports. He signed an executive order, and we're upholding Title IX. We just couldn't be any clearer about this. For those who violate these provisions, we will investigate and take action.
🚨 @EDSecMcMahon announces a Title IX Special Investigations Team:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 11, 2025
"This team is a combination between the @usedgov and the @TheJusticeDept. The President has made crystal clear that he is not going to tolerate men being able to compete in women's sports." pic.twitter.com/y2NIJrTak2
Maine Gov. Janet Mills has openly defied the Trump administration’s executive order barring states from allowing biological males to participate in women’s and girl’s sports. Her administration contended that Trump’s order does not supersede federal Title IX law or the Maine Human Rights Act.
The White House gave Maine a deadline to revamp its policies or face consequences. The deadline was set for Friday.
As a compliance deadline nears, Gov. Janet Mills has no plans to align with President Donald Trump's executive order to ban transgender athletes from playing in girls' and women's sports.
“I don’t think that’s in play,” the governor said Thursday.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that, by allowing transgender students to compete with girls, Maine allegedly violated Title IX—the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs. The state argues the Maine Human Rights Act protects the current policy and supersedes the executive branch's interpretation of federal law that is untested in the courts.
The Department of Education gave the state 10 days to come into compliance by excluding transgender athletes from women's athletics. That deadline was then extended by 10 more days, to Friday.
If the state doesn’t come to an agreement by then, the department said it would refer the matter to the Department of Justice “for enforcement.”
However, Maine’s universities have agreed to comply with the executive order.
UMS, a network of eight public universities in the state, saw its federal funding stopped while they resisted the order to only allow women into women’s sports. The funding resumed a few days later, and now UMS is complying.
“After the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated a Title IX compliance review regarding federal funding, the University of Maine System (UMaine) has clearly communicated its compliance with Title IX’s requirement to protect equal opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports, as articulated in President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order. Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability,” the USDA said.
Earlier this month, Maine officials filed a lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture after the administration froze federal funding over its insistence on compelling female athletes to compete against men.
It will be interesting to see who blinks first in this standoff. With public opinion largely on the Trump administration’s side on this issue, it seems doubtful that Maine can continue pushing this brand of gender ideology on its residents.