Donald Trump’s administration will unfreeze federal funding for Maine’s child nutrition programs following a legal battle between the state and the president over transgender athletes.
The administration agreed that it will not interfere with the state’s access to Department of Agriculture funding, and in turn, the state will drop its lawsuit against the agency.
The settlement does not constitute an admission of guilt from either party.
In remarks on Friday, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills hailed the settlement as a “victory” for its state after a “blatantly illegal” threat to block critical funding for school food programs.
“It’s good to feel a victory like this,” she said. “We took him to court and we won.”
The legal battle was sparked after a confrontational meeting at the White House, where the president told Mills to comply with an executive order banning transgender women and girls from women’s sports.
“Are you not going to comply with it?” Trump asked Mills.
“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” she replied.
“We are federal law,” Trump said. “You better do it. You better do it, because you’re not going to get federal funding … Your population doesn’t want men in women’s sports.”
“We’ll see you in court,” Mills replied.
“Good. I’ll see you in court. I’ll look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” Trump said. “And enjoy your life after, governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
In the ensuing lawsuit, Attorney General Pam Bondi accused the state of violating Title IX, the 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.
Maine violated the law by “discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports,” according to Bondi’s lawsuit.
“By prioritizing gender identity over biological reality, Maine’s policies deprive girl athletes of fair competition, deny them equal athletic opportunities, and expose them to heightened risks of physical injury and psychological harm,” the lawsuit stated.
In February, Trump signed an executive order to end the “dangerous and unfair participation of men in women’s sports” by directing federal law enforcement agencies to take “immediate action” against schools and associations that “deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms,” according to a summary from the White House.
During a signing ceremony surrounded by young girls, Trump claimed that the “radical left” had “waged an all-out campaign to erase the very concept of biological sex and replace it with a militant transgender ideology.”
The order followed a sweeping executive order impacting virtually every aspect of public life for trans Americans by erasing “gender” as a concept across federal agencies and effectively denying the existence of transgender, intersex and nonbinary people.
Separate executive orders have targeted access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans people under 19 and have sought to ban trans service members from the U.S. military.
The lawsuit followed a letter to the state from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on April 2, which Mills likened to a “ransom note” written by a child in her remarks on Friday.
“A demand letter that was outrageous at the time and remains outrageous today,” she said Friday.
On April 11, District Judge John Woodcock Jr. ordered the USDA to immediately unfreeze any withheld federal funding to the state.
“It’s unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement. “But we are pleased that the lawsuit has now been resolved and that Maine will continue to receive funds as directed by Congress to feed children and vulnerable adults.”
