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The Trump administration’s Department of Agriculture blocked Title IX funding to Maine on Wednesday, citing the state’s refusal to comply with “equal opportunity to women and girls in educational programs.”
The decision follows Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to protect girls’ sports by restricting biological males who identify as females from competition.
“In order to continue to receive taxpayer dollars from USDA, the state of Maine must demonstrate compliance with Title IX which protects female student athletes from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in the letter.
“In addition, USDA has launched a full review of grants awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education. Many of these grants appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump Administration. USDA will not stand for the Biden Administration’s bloated bureaucracy and will instead focus on a Department that is farmer-first and without a leftist social agenda,” Rollins continued.
The USDA stated that it stands behind the president’s commitment to ensuring taxpayer dollars are used in accordance with federal law. In alignment with recent actions by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to enforce Title IX, the USDA will pause—and, if necessary, terminate—certain nonessential funding in Maine if ongoing Title IX violations are not resolved to the satisfaction of the Federal Government.
The letter noted that the pause will not affect federal feeding programs or direct aid to individuals; any child who was fed today will continue to be fed tomorrow.
Trump called last month for an apology from Mills over her challenge to his executive order to keep men out of women’s sports.
“While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor’s strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women’s sports while at the White House House Governor’s Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,” the president wrote.
“Therefore, we need a full throated apology from the Governor herself, and a statement that she will never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again, before this case can be settled. I’m sure she will be able to do that quite easily. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he added.
The Trump administration had previously given Maine 10 days to ban biological males from female sports.