United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins sent a letter to Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) on Wednesday announcing a pause in federal education funding from the department due to Maine’s repeated refusal to comply with federal law removing males from girls’ sports.
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“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,” Sec. Rollins wrote to Gov. Mills, adding: “Today, I am freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools.”
In the letter, Rollins made clear the path for lifting the funding pause:
“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,” she stressed.
Maine has received repeated warnings from both the USDA and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that it will lose federal education funding if it continues to allow transgender-identifying males to compete in women’s sports. Despite these threats, Mills has refused to bring Maine into compliance and has vowed to take legal action against President Donald Trump’s administration rather than comply with federal directives.
The current pause affects certain unspecified administrative and technology-related funds. Rollins warned that this pause is only the beginning. In addition to the freeze, the USDA is reviewing all of Maine’s research and education-related funding to ensure that it is used in a way that complies with federal law.
The USDA will continue to freeze more funding as long as the state remains in violation of federal antidiscrimination law.
Rollins also announced a full investigation into the grants awarded to the Maine DOE under the Biden Administration.
“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,” said Rollins.
The USDA clarified that programs dedicated to feeding needy children will not be affected by the crackdown.
“This pause does not impact federal feeding programs or direct assistance to citizens; if a child was fed today, they will be fed tomorrow,” said the department.
Last month, the USDA temporarily paused funding to the University of Maine System but soon restored it when UMS clarified the state universities are in compliance with the Title IX-focused executive orders.
[RELATED: Trump Admin’s USDA Pauses Millions in Funding to Maine Universities]
Maine can end the enforcement action and restore its funding at any time if it changes its policies to prevent biological males from using women’s restrooms and locker rooms or competing in women’s sports, recent administration actions indicate.
