The U.S. Department of Agriculture has blocked Title IX controlled funding to Maine. The department cited the state’s continued refusal to “provide equal opportunity to women and girls in educational programs.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the state has not taken the necessary steps to come into compliance to meet Title IX standards.
In a communication to Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Rollins accused the Mills administration of failure to protect “female student athletes from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.”
President Donald Trump was involved in a short battle of words with Mills at a February event at the White House. The president directly challenged the governor for the state’s refusal to follow an executive order that barred transgender athletes in girl’s sports. The governor responded, “We’ll see you in court.”
The Trump administration’s move against Maine includes the indication that more funding could be in jeopardy. A department release said, “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.”
The USDA did not indicate how much money was involved in the withholding action. It said the funding block does not affect any federal supplemental nutrition programs in Maine, adding, “If a child was fed today, they will be fed tomorrow.”
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