The Trump administration took a key step Monday toward stripping federal funding from Minnesota by transferring its investigation into alleged Title IX violations involving transgender athletes competing in women's sports to the Department of Justice for enforcement.
The civil rights offices of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced the referral, saying the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the state's high school sports authority, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), have refused to comply with Title IX by "allowing men to compete in women's sports and occupy women's intimate facilities."
"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," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a news release.
"As Minnesota reels from a massive fraud scandal exposing Gov. Tim Walz's dereliction of duty, today's referral to [the] DOJ underscores the state's ongoing failure to safeguard its citizens and uphold the rule of law," she added. "The Trump administration will not stop until accountability is delivered for Minnesota's students."
A joint federal investigation concluded in September that the MDE and MSHSL violated Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination by allowing males to compete in multiple female sports programs and use female-only "intimate" facilities.
Federal investigators offered the state a proposed resolution agreement to "voluntarily resolve their Title IX violations or risk imminent enforcement action."
The Education Department said Minnesota indicated in December that it would neither accept the proposed agreement nor negotiate its terms. Since then, the state has taken no action "to protect women and girls from discrimination in sports or harassment in intimate spaces," according to the release.
"Minnesota is violating Title IX, and we will not look the other way," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the release.
"When states allow males to compete in girls' sports, they deny young women and girls the protections the law guarantees. After Minnesota refused to comply, we referred this case to the Department of Justice for enforcement."
The referral follows President Donald Trump's February executive order directing federal agencies to enforce Title IX protections consistent with biological sex, including barring males from women's and girls' sports and protecting female-only athletic and locker room spaces.
The order authorizes agencies to review and, where appropriate, withhold federal funding from noncompliant programs.
Earlier this month, Minnesota joined 11 other Democrat-led states in a lawsuit challenging the administration's authority to condition federal funding on compliance with the policy.
In April, Democrat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also filed a suit contesting Trump's executive order and related Title IX enforcement actions.
Newsmax reached out to the MDE and MSHSL for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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