Federal agencies seek DOJ action against Minnesota over trans athlete policies

Two federal agencies are seeking legal action against Minnesota for its refusal to comply with federal Title IX interpretations.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that they’re referring their case against Minnesota’s transgender athlete policies to the Department of Justice for further action.

RELATED: Feds find Minnesota violated Title IX by letting trans athletes play in high school sports

It’s the latest escalation in the saga, which stretches back into last summer. Then, in September, the two federal agencies threatened to withhold federal funds from Minnesota schools unless the state pledged to ban trans athletes from high school sports.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said that abiding by President Donald Trump’s executive order — he declared last February that transgender participation in girls’ sports is sex-based discrimination — would conflict with state anti-discrimination law that designates gender identity as a protected class. Minnesota has since sued over that interpretation.

The Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League allow students to participate in sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Last month, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared an impasse with the state and again threatened federal funding and further action if the state didn’t change course.

RELATED: US education secretary again threatens Minnesota funding over alleged Title IX violations

Now, the Department of Justice will likely get involved, although that has seemed inevitable for months. Based on the outcome of those proceedings, Minnesota could lose funding from the federal education and human services agencies.

According to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations, there were 232,347 students across Minnesota participating in school athletics during the 2024-25 school year. If the 11 transgender students singled out in the federal investigation were active at the same time, they would account for 1 in 21,122 student-athletes in the state.
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