Maine made national headlines in February after a fiery exchange between Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump over the state’s refusal to ban transgender participation in sports. It began with Trump threatening to withhold federal funding and then escalated when Mills declared, “I’ll see you in court.”
On April 1, 2026, the governor will do just that.
That’s the date U.S. District Court judge Stacey Neumann set for trial in United States of America v. Maine Department of Education.
The 31-page suit, filed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the U.S. District Court of Maine in April, alleges the state Department of Education is “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls.”
It’s a notion vehemently denied by Mills, who said in February that Maine will “not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed,” Mills said in an April statement after the suit was filed. “It is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law.”
Tuesday’s order granted a scheduling objection by the U.S. that pushes back the trial date by nearly four months.
Neumann had originally set a date of Dec. 3, 2025, putting the case on a standard track discovery timeline. Department of Justice attorney Matthew Donnelly objected to that timeline on the basis that “the complexity and size of the case necessitate more expansive discovery.”
Neumann agreed, moving the due date for discovery from Sept. 25 to Dec. 19.
It’s the latest step in a pending showdown between Maine and the Trump administration, one that Bondi described in an April press conference as the first of “many” against states the administration claims are violating Title IX, a landmark 1972 anti-discrimination law, in this manner.
The Department of Justice is seeking a permanent injunction against the Maine Department of Education that would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls sports in Maine schools, implement a monitoring and enforcement system and grant compensation for female athletes it says have “been denied equal athletic opportunities” due to transgender participation.
