During a press conference on April 22, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced his filing of a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The suit challenges the president’s anti-trans executive order directing agencies to withhold federal funding from educational programs that allow transgender girls to compete on women’s sports teams, under the claim that it violates both constitutional rights and Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

On February 20, Ellison issued a formal legal opinion expressing concerns that complying with the executive order entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” would violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).

The order in question, signed February 5, attempts to bar trans students from competing on school sports teams matching their gender identity, by revoking federal funding from public schools that don’t comply.

However, the MHRA prohibits discrimination based on protected classes like sexual orientation and gender identity—a clear conflict of interest.

But the DOJ responded by sending a letter five days later threatening to sue Minnesota if the state did not comply. The department continued to threaten the state in an April 8 letter and, and in an April 16 press conference, the DOJ stated it would seek “judicial resolution” and withhold funds from Minnesota if they refused compliance.

Recently, Ellison called their bluff and took the first shot, announcing that Minnesota would sue the DOJ and the president in his official capacity on four legal claims.

“I’m not gonna sit around waiting for the Trump administration to sue Minnesota,” Ellison said during the press conference. “Today, Minnesota is suing him and his administration because we will not participate in this shameful bullying—we will not let a small group of vulnerable children who are only trying to be healthy and live their lives be demonized, many of their parents are here today, and I thank them for their presence. The bottom line is: In our Minnesota, everyone is included in the circle of our compassion, and no one is out of our circle of protection.”

Sometimes countries face a moment like this—faced with a leader bent on destroying entire communities and instilling fear in those who protect them.Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison

The four main legal claims state that Trump’s order is invalid because the administration is trying to use the powers that the Constitution reserves to Congress.

The second claim argues that the order violates Title IX, a common argument the Trump administration uses to enforce the order. However, this interpretation is highly contested, and attempts by the Trump administration to redefine it to fit their interpretation have been blocked by courts. 

The third claim states that the order violates the Administrative Procedures Act which requires courts to “set aside agency action” that is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” The fourth and final argument—and one of the more serious accusations—is that the order violates the 10th Amendment by trying to override a state law despite the amendment giving states the right to self govern.

This lawsuit is yet another in a series of lawsuits Minnesota has brought against the Trump administration. 

One notable case from early February saw Minnesota joining with three other states to sue the Trump administration for an executive order threatening to cut federal grants to hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatment to individuals under 19. The plaintiffs argued that the order violated their 10th Amendment rights, and a federal judge ruled that Trump’s order could not be enforced in four plaintiff states.

The recently filed lawsuit also echoes a similar situation with Maine, whose leaders have refused to follow the anti-trans sports ban, and have since been hit by federal agencies withholding funding to the state.

 “Sometimes countries face a moment like this—faced with a leader bent on destroying entire communities and instilling fear in those who protect them,” Ellison said in the press conference. “The lessons of history tell us a leader like that doesn’t stop at one community—after he’s destroyed one, he goes after another, and another, and another.”