U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon escalated tensions with California on Monday, threatening legal action against the state for refusing to bar transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports—an order backed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Tagging California Governor Gavin Newsom and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in a post on X (formerly Twitter), McMahon warned:
“@CAgovernor, you’ll be hearing from @AGPamBondi.”
The blunt message came amid growing friction between Trump and Newsom, and as the administration pushes its rollback of transgender rights in education and athletics. Since returning to office in January, Trump has prioritized reversing LGBTQ+ protections—clashing head-on with California’s long-standing policies that allow students to compete in sports aligned with their gender identity, in place since 2013.
The Justice Department declined to comment on McMahon’s statement, and the Education Department did not immediately clarify its intent. Governor Newsom’s office, the California Department of Education, and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)—which governs high school sports—also declined to respond.
In June, the U.S. Education Department declared California out of compliance with its interpretation of Title IV, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. The Trump administration now claims that allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports violates that statute.
Rather than comply, California preemptively filed a lawsuit challenging the federal directive, signaling a major legal showdown ahead.
The dispute intensified around the state high school track and field championships, where CIF opted for a compromise: allowing girls displaced by a transgender athlete to compete anyway, and to share recognition on the winners’ podium. That decision followed controversy after transgender athlete AB Hernandez won both the girls’ high jump and triple jump events.
In an unprecedented move, CIF named two champions in each event—Hernandez and the highest-placing cisgender girl—drawing both praise and criticism across the political spectrum.
As legal and political battles loom, California remains defiant. McMahon’s comments mark a dramatic escalation in the administration’s broader fight over transgender inclusion in schools—one that may soon play out in the courts.
