The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Wednesday that it is suspending federal funding for select education programs in Maine, citing the state’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s anti-trans directive to exclude transgender students from girls’ and women’s sports.
In a letter to Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the funding freeze would affect “certain administrative and technological functions in schools,” and warned that “[t]his is only the beginning.”
Rollins also noted that the USDA is reviewing Maine’s research and education-related funding to assess compliance with the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and the Trump administration’s anti-trans policy agenda. She specifically invoked Title IX — which the White House has weaponized against trans people — and Title VI, which the administration has distorted to go after diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, who represents southern Maine, condemned the move. “Let’s call this what it is: straight-up political blackmail,” she said. “The Trump administration is threatening the livelihoods of Maine students, educators, and researchers in a desperate attempt to punish our state for refusing to discriminate against transgender students.”
In January, Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. The following month, during a National Governors Association meeting at the White House, he publicly criticized Maine for allowing students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity — a policy rooted in the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits gender identity discrimination in education, including athletics.
“Fortunately,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey wrote in a statement in February, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”
Despite that, the Trump administration quickly escalated its pressure campaign on states that refused to comply with his anti-trans agenda. In February, the Department of Justice issued letters to Maine, California, and Minnesota threatening legal action if they did not bar transgender students from women’s sports.
The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) launched rapid investigations into Maine’s alleged violations of the administration’s anti-trans interpretation of Title IX. These probes moved unusually fast, even as both agencies experienced staffing and resource cuts by the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). According to The Maine Monitor, HHS issued its findings just four days after launching its investigation — without contacting or interviewing state officials. Mills called the investigations “politically directed.”
In March, the Department of Education issued a final warning to Maine, saying that the state would face consequences for refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s attack on transgender athletes. In March, the USDA suspended federal funding to the University of Maine due to its policies supporting transgender inclusion, but later reinstated it after the university adjusted its policies to align with federal demands.
On April 2, the USDA announced a freeze on certain educational program funds, citing Maine’s “Title IX violations.” Rollins warned that more funding freezes could follow if the state does not capitulate to Trump’s anti-trans agenda.
Rollins also stated that the USDA has “launched a full review of grants awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education.” She wrote that “[m]any of these grants appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump Administration,” adding that the USDA would not support “a leftist social agenda.”
While there is no evidence that Maine intends to comply with Trump’s anti-trans executive order, which is currently embattled in the courts, in March Trump demanded on Truth Social that Mills issue a “full-throated apology” and publicly promise to never again “challenge the Federal Government.”
Mills rejected that demand, warning that the “rule of law in our country” is at stake.
“Maine may [be] one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last,” Mills said. “Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the president is neither a king nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it — and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.”
“But do not be misled,” Mills continued. “This is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a president can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”
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