A political showdown between North Carolina and the federal government loomed Thursday as Republican state leaders vowed to defy the U.S. Justice Department’s deadline to repeal the state’s contentious new bathroom law. The Justice Department notified Gov. Pat McCrory in a letter Wednesday that the state’s House Bill 2, which restricts transgender bathroom access and has become a focus in the LGBT rights fight, violates sections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It gave the state until Monday to “remedy” the violations.

On Thursday, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said legislators would not meet the federal government’s deadline. “We will take no action by Monday,” Moore told reporters in a video broadcast by the Raleigh News & Observer. “That deadline will come and go. Obviously, we don’t ever want to lose any money, but we’re not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday’s date. That’s not how this works.” READ MORE