AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, and now we're going to check in on the standoff between President Trump and the governor of Maine. Yesterday, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced that the Department of Justice is suing Maine over its policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. The state's Democratic governor, Janet Mills, spoke about it today, and we're joined now by Maine Public Radio's Kevin Miller to discuss what's become a pretty high-profile showdown. Hi, Kevin.
KEVIN MILLER, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so what did the governor have to say today?
MILLER: Well, the governor said she felt confident in the state's defense. Mills said the Justice Department didn't cite any case law to support the president's interpretation of Title IX, which is the nondiscrimination law governing women's sports. But Governor Mills is also a former state attorney general, so she says she's happy to litigate these issues in court. But then Mills also had a message for other governors.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JANET MILLS: Let today serve as a warning to other states, as well. Maine may be among the first to draw fire and the ire of the federal government in this way, but we will not be the last.
MILLER: And every few days, there's another investigation or a warning letter that we're seeing. And Maine is a small state, so we typically don't draw a lot of attention from D.C.
CHANG: Yeah. So remind us how this whole dispute started.
MILLER: Yeah. So it all started two months ago, and that's when Mills was at a meeting with other governors in the White House. Trump threatened at that time to cut off federal funding for the state unless Maine bans transgender athletes in girls' sports. And Mills replied, quote, "see you in court." So since then, the administration has attempted to cancel research grants and support money for food assistance programs. They even briefly blocked parents in Maine from being able to get Social Security numbers for their newborns while at the hospital. And then last week, the U.S. Department of Education began a process that could eliminate federal K-12 funding, and in that case, we're talking about potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
CHANG: And why does the Trump administration say it's doing all of this?
MILLER: Yeah. So the administration says that they're trying to protect women and girls. They say by allowing athletes who are born as males to compete in girls' and women's sports, it's not only unfair but potentially dangerous. And then Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that it's not just Maine. They want other states to comply. And I talked to Mark Brewer. He's a political science professor at the University of Maine. And he says that the goal here seems to be basically making an example of institutions that might disagree with the White House on this issue or other issues.
MARK BREWER: The other states will follow it, or the same thing is going to happen to you. Same thing with - you know, with Columbia or Harvard or Penn. Whoever it's going after, it makes a lot more sense from an implementation standpoint to set the example with one instance and then get other similar actors to comply, rather than having to take the time and the resources to go after each one individually.
MILLER: And more than 20 other states had, at least until recently, similar policies to Maine on transgender athletes.
CHANG: So what's next in this standoff in Maine, you think?
MILLER: Yeah. So - well, Republicans in Maine say that the state should give Trump what he wants and change the law on transgender athletes. Democrats so far are backing Mills, but they also say the president can't cut money for hundreds of schools and nutrition programs over his interpretation of the law, especially since the principals' association here says there's only two known transgender athletes in school sports this year. But ultimately, it looks like this'll be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
CHANG: That is Kevin Miller of Maine Public Radio. Thank you, Kevin.
MILLER: Thank you very much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
