Two federal judges say they will not recuse themselves from the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Maine over its transgender athlete policies.
The Trump administration in February requested that the judges be removed from the case because someone it subpoenaed for the suit is related to a court employee.
But in a filing Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Stacey Neumann and U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Frink Wolf wrote that they believe a reasonable observer wouldn’t question their impartiality on the case.
Last year, in a highly unusual move, all six of Maine’s federal judges recused themselves from Republican Rep. Laurel Libby’s lawsuit against the speaker of the House. Libby sued after she was censured in a party-line vote by Democrats who said she had crossed a line by posting photos of a transgender high school athlete on social media.
In that case, all of the judges recused themselves because a court employee had a direct connection to the case. It was then reassigned to a federal judge in Rhode Island, although Libby’s rights at the State House were restored so the suit dissolved.
The Department of Justice argued that Neumann and Wolf should take themselves off the latest case as well, citing a conflict related to the same court employee. But the judges wrote that this situation is “materially different” because this lawsuit is about a dispute between two governments, not two individuals.
“The employee in question performs administrative functions for the Court, does not work in our respective chambers, is not involved in any judge’s substantive decision-making process, and has no role whatsoever in the adjudication of this case,” they wrote. “Neither the employee nor the employee’s relative is a party to this case, nor have they otherwise appeared.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit in April 2025, and accused the state of “discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports” because of its state law that allows transgender athletes to compete on scholastic sports teams that align with their gender identity.
It came two months after a public spat between President Trump and Gov. Janet Mills, in which she vowed to see him in court over the legality of Maine’s policies. There is a hearing in the case scheduled for next week on subpoenas issued by the Justice Department to the Maine Principals Association and Portland Public Schools.
In the meantime, the Maine Human Rights Commission has taken seven individual school districts to court over their adoption of policies that violate state law, in alignment with a Trump administration executive order.
And Maine could be poised to take up a change to its policies on the November ballot because of a citizen referendum that would prohibit transgender students from sports teams and private spaces that align with the students’ gender identities. Supporters announced last month that they had collected enough signatures to force a statewide vote.
