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The Trump administration ordered a pause of federal funding to Maine’s public universities on Tuesday in response to the state’s refusal to comply with an executive order to keep transgender males out of women’s sports.
The University of Maine System (UMS) includes eight colleges and nearly 30,000 students, according to its website.
“An email forwarded to the University of Maine that appears to have originated from the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer directs the department’s ‘awarding agencies and staff offices to temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other releases of funding to Columbia University or the University of Maine System,’” a UMS spokesperson said.
“The message goes on to state, ‘This pause is temporary in nature while USDA evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions related to prospective Title VI or Title IX violations. Please take any necessary actions to effectuate this direction from leadership. This pause will remain in effect until further notice,’” it continued.
Fox News reported that in “fiscal year 2024 alone, the USDA awarded $29.78 million in funding to UMS for research, the system said. The USDA claims it has provided over $100 million to the UMS in recent years.”
Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills responded after Trump’s executive order that her state would not comply with banning biological males who identify as transgender from women’s sports. The Department of Education then launched an investigation into Maine’s potential violations of Title IX and made a referral to the Department of Justice.
Trump signed the executive order “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” on Feb. 5.
“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports,” the order reads.
“Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth,” it adds.