A US federal judge has dismissed a Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to force California to ban transgender girls from competing in school sports teams that match their gender. Judge Cynthia Valenzuela ruled that the federal government failed to provide adequate notice that California's schools risked losing federal funding if they maintained their trans-inclusive policies, which have been in place since 2013. The decision is a significant setback for the Trump administration, which had argued that California's policy violated Title IX (the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools), though the Department of Justice said it is evaluating its options for appeal.