are associated with obesity.

filed a preemptive lawsuit Tuesday against Republican President Donald Trump seeking to block his administration from acting against Minnesota in the way it’sunder a federal push to ban transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports.

“Minnesota brings this lawsuit to stop President Trump and his administration from bullying vulnerable children in this state,” Ellison said at a news conference, quoting the opening line from the lawsuit naming Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi.When Bondi announced the administration’s lawsuit against Maine last week, she warned that Minnesota and California could be next. The administration’s lawsuit followed weeks of feuding between Trump and Democratic Gov. Janet Mill of Maine that led to a clash at the White House when she told Trump, “We’ll see you in court.”With this case, Ellison is trying to beat Trump and Bondi to the courthouse.

The federal lawsuit asks the court to declareon the matter — and letters that the Justice Department has sent to Minnesota threatening to cut off education funding if the state doesn’t comply — unconstitutional and bar their enforcement. Ellison told reporters that the orders violate the constitutional separation of powers by usurping Congress’ authority to legislate. He said the orders also violate the federal law known as

, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funds.

has protected transgender rights since 1993, and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation in 2023On Wednesday, he said any “allegedly imminent” removals to Libya would “clearly violate this Court’s Order.”

the government to hand over details about the claims.In addition to the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, the administration has deported people to Panama and Costa Rica who were not citizens of those countries.

Sending someone to a country that is not their own has raised a host of questions about due process and, particularly in the case of El Salvador,Outside of those three Central American nations, the Trump administration has said it’s exploring other third countries for deportations. Asked Wednesday about whether Libya was one of those countries, the administration had little to say.