The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex.
The lawsuit follows weeks of feuding between the Republican administration and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that has led to threats to cut off crucial federal funding and a clash at the White House when she told President Donald Trump: “We’ll see you in court.”
The political overtones of the moment were clear, with Attorney General Pam Bondi — and several athletes who joined her on stage at the Justice Department — citing the matter as a priority for Trump. Bondi said other states, including Minnesota and California, could be sued as well.
In a high-stakes standoff, President Donald Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in federal research grants for Harvard University, which is pushing back on demands for changes to campus policy.
The feud between the Republican administration and the nation’s wealthiest college will be closely watched across higher education as the White House uses federal funding as leverage to pursue compliance with its political agenda.
But the impact will be felt most immediately by researchers at the Ivy League school and its partner institutions. While some have cheered Harvard’s stand against demands to crack down on protesters and pursue more viewpoint diversity among faculty, others worry life-saving scientific research will be endangered.
A man was arrested near UnitedHealthcare’s headquarters in Minnesota after threatening violence, months after the company’s CEO was killed, authorities said Monday.
The man was spotted around 11 a.m. in a parking lot outside of the UnitedHealthcare corporate campus in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka. City spokesman Andy Wittenborg said the man contacted the FBI’s field office in Minneapolis once he arrived, and an FBI negotiator made contact with him by phone.
Emmy Schulz can be reached at schu4600@stthomas.edu.
