WASHINGTON—The United States Department of Agriculture told Maine on Wednesday that it has frozen the state’s federal funding over Maine’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order on men in women’s sports.
In a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire, the USDA warned Maine, “you cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated.”
“Your defiance of federal law has cost your state, which is bound by Title IX in educational programming,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Today, I am freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools. 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.”
USDA is also reviewing all research and education-related funding in Maine to see if it is in compliance with the Constitution, federal law including Titles VI and IX, and the priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration, the USDA said.
“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,” Rollins wrote. “USDA, alongside other federal agencies, will continue to pause and, where appropriate, terminate categories of education programming in Maine if these Title IX violations are not resolved to the satisfaction of the Federal Government.”
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The pause will not impact federal feeding programs or direct assistance to Mainers, Rollins noted: “if a child was fed today, they will be fed tomorrow.”
“In addition, USDA has launched a full review of grants awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education,” she said. “Many of these grants appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump Administration. USDA will not extend the Biden Administration’s bloated bureaucracy and will instead focus on a Department that is farmer-first and without a leftist social agenda. We look forward to the State’s cooperation with all federal reviews and future compliance with federal law and policy.”
