Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Daily Caller that she is exempting schools that comply with the president’s executive order banning biological men from women’s sports from the administration’s lawsuit against Maine’s education department.
The Department of Justice sued the Maine Department of Education on Wednesday after the state failed to comply with Trump’s executive order banning biological men from women’s sports. One Maine school board, MSAD #70, voted unanimously Monday to defy the governor and comply with the federal law. Bondi told the Caller that schools like MSAD #70 will be exempt from the lawsuit and further punishment.
“I think that was very brave and bold of that school board. We just saw that as well,” Bondi told the Caller at a press conference Monday.
“Again, that’s all we wanted was compliance, so, yes, we will not be going after them looking at them in this lawsuit because they are complying and they’re protecting women in women’s sports,” she added.
MSAD #70 voted unanimously on Monday to defy the governor and to comply with Title IX 🚨
Daily Caller White House Correspondent @reaganreese_: “With the action you are taking today, will it be possible to exempt schools that comply from any future punishment?”
BONDI: “Yes. I… pic.twitter.com/U1fDUWRZj8
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 16, 2025
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills publicly vowed while visiting the White House to bring the Trump administration to court over its enforcement of Trump’s February executive order banning men from women’s sports. The U.S. Department of Education responded by opening an investigation into the Maine Department of Education a few hours later. The federal department then issued a final warning letter to the state in March, noting that it would refer the case to the DOJ if the state did not comply.
The Department of Justice then announced that it was responding to Maine by pulling all K-12 funding and, as promised, referring the case to the DOJ.
“Despite repeated warnings from President Trump, Gov. Janet Mills and Maine Democrats have continued to discriminate against Maine women and girls, prioritizing their woke ideology over biological reality,” Republican Maine Rep. Laurel Libby said of the DOJ’s lawsuit.
“As a result, the Department of Justice has no choice but to take action against the erasure of women and girls in sports,” she continued. “Maine Democrats have doubled down on their far-left agenda and now our students and families stand poised to lose hundreds of millions in federal funding. Their radical gender ideology is endangering the continued existence of women’s sports and penalizing Maine students, against the will of Maine citizens.”
