Trump admin freezes funds to Maine over refusal to protect women’s sports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it will freeze federal funds to Maine over the state’s refusal to keep men out of women’s sports, according to a Wednesday press release. 

Maine is violating federal law by refusing to comply with Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

“In order to continue to receive taxpayer dollars from USDA, the state of Maine must demonstrate compliance with Title IX’s protection of female student athletes from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in a letter to Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D). 

The USDA will also review grants “awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education.” Rollins stated that “Many of these grants appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump Administration,” per the press release.

In Feb. 22 memo, the USDA announced a “compliance review of the University of Maine” of over $100 million in federal funding the university receives.

[RELATED: ANALYSIS: The women’s sports legal battle has just begun]

On March 19, the USDA announced that the University of Maine chose to comply with the Trump administration’s directives, barring men from competing in women’s sports. 

Campus Reform previously reported on President Trump’s public call out of Gov. Mills at a White House event over her refusal to comply with his order protecting women’s sports.  

“You better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump warned Mills in February. When Mills said: “I’ll see you in court,” Trump answered: “I’ll see in you court; I look forward to that, that should be a real easy one.” 

His statement was followed by the Department of Education launching an investigation into the Maine Department of Education for Title IX violations. 

The Trump administration has made clear that institutions that refuse to comply with federal law risk losing federal funding. 

The administration paused $175 million in federal funds to the University of Pennsylvania over the school’s refusal to keep men out of women’s sports. 

The administration also paused $400 million to Columbia University and $210 million to Princeton University over the institutions’ failures to protect Jewish students, and could also potentially freeze or cut almost $9 billion in federal funds that support Harvard University. The $210 million freeze to Princeton University followed a Department of Education investigation into the Ivy League school that resulted from Campus Reform Editor-in-Chief Dr. Zachary Marschall’s Title VI complaint against Princeton. 

The USDA press release notes that the agency will “terminate certain nonessential funding” and assures that the freeze “does not impact federal feeding programs or direct assistance to citizens; if a child was fed today, they will be fed tomorrow.”

“This is only the beginning, though you are free to end it at any time by protecting women and girls in compliance with federal law… We look forward to the State’s cooperation with all federal reviews and future compliance with federal law and policy,” Rollins stated in his letter. 

Campus Reform has reached out to the Maine Governor’s office for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.