President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Since President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding unless Maine complies with his executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sports, the state has been the subject of several probes and funding cuts that have been widely interpreted as retaliatory.
“We’re going to follow the law sir. We’ll see you in court,” Gov. Janet Mills told the president in a heated exchange while attending a White House event as part of the National Governors Association winter summit on Feb. 21.
The Democrat was referring to the Maine Human Rights Act, which was amended in 2021 to include gender identity as a protected class against discrimination. Mills and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey maintain that law supersedes the president’s edict.
Mills warned in a statement later that day that the “rule of law in our country” is at stake and that the president will likely continue to target those who speak out against his wishes.
“Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last,” Mills said.
In the hours and weeks that followed, the federal government launched a series of investigations into Maine institutions. Below is a running list of the federal government’s actions against the state:
Key Events
3 mins ago
Pingree calls for acting Social Security director to step down over ‘vindictive actions’
17 hours ago
USDA pausing funding to Maine school programs over alleged Title IX violations
2 days ago
Title IX case against Maine schools headed to U.S. Department of Justice
6 days ago
Federal probe targets Maine school gender policies, citing parental rights
1 week ago
Gov. Mills responds to Trump’s demand for apology
1 week ago
Trump demands Gov. Mills give ‘full-throated apology’
2 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Education determines Maine guilty of violating Title IX
2 weeks ago
USDA deems University of Maine System to be in compliance with Title IX
2 weeks ago
Trump administration says Maine Principals’ Association, high school violating Title IX
3 weeks ago
USDA backtracks on university funding halt
3 weeks ago
Amid probe, U.S. Department of Agriculture halts funding to Maine university system
3 weeks ago
Social Security snafu puts state on edge
3 weeks ago
Maine Sea Grant to be renegotiated
3 weeks ago
Maine Sea Grant funding cut
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Justice threatens to sue Maine
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines Maine guilty of Title IX violation
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Agriculture Title IX review
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Title IX investigation
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Education Title IX review
3 mins ago
Pingree calls for acting Social Security director to step down over ‘vindictive actions’
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree reiterated her call for Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek to step down after leaked emails reported on by The Washington Post revealed that he deliberately sought to punish Maine after Gov. Janet Mills’ heated exchange with President Donald Trump over the state’s transgender protections.
On March 6, the Social Security Administration notified the Maine Department of Health and Human Services that it would be ending the “Enumeration at Birth” process, which allows parents to check a box on a form shortly after a child’s birth in order to receive a mailed Social Security card.
In a response to an emailed warning from a staff member that the change “would result in improper payments and potential for identity theft,” the acting director made clear that he acting in retaliation.
“While our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child,” he wrote.
In a statement Wednesday, Pingree asked, “If a federal agency can be turned into a political hit squad at the whim of an acting appointee, what checks remain on executive power?”
“Commissioner Dudek’s vindictive actions against Maine represent a fundamental betrayal of public trust that disqualifies him from public service. He should not only resign or be removed from office; he should be investigated for his flagrant abuse of power.”
By March 7, the agency had reversed course after Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins sought answers about the action. A spokesperson for Collins previously told Maine Morning Star that the Republican received a call from Dudek during which he claimed it was done in error.
When asked about the insult, Mills told reporters: “This is the same guy that admitted that he suspended Maine’s enumeration at birth and funeral directors’ program. First, he said it was a mistake, said it was inadvertent, then, God bless, Sen. King and Sen. Collins got after him and then he admitted he did it on purpose because the governor of Maine was not ‘sufficiently cordial to the president and I said, ‘I can’t speak to that.’”
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17 hours ago
USDA pausing funding to Maine school programs over alleged Title IX violations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pausing federal funding for some school programs in response to Maine’s alleged violations of Title IX, though the agency has not conducted a formal investigation.
“You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in a letter to Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday. “Today, I am freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools.
“This is only the beginning,” the letter warned.
School lunch programs, which are funded by the USDA, will not be impacted by the freeze, Rollins said. However, the agency is “reviewing all research and education-related funding in Maine” for compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws “and the priorities of the Trump administration.”
For Maine to continue receiving funding, the state will have to “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,” Rollins’ letter said.
Read more here.
2 days ago
Title IX case against Maine schools headed to U.S. Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a final warning Monday to the Maine Department of Education regarding its noncompliance with a federal directive for allowing trans girls to participate in girls’ sports.
If the state does not propose an agreement that’s acceptable to the office by April 11, the case will be referred to the Department of Justice, the letter said.
Meanwhile, a separate investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ civil rights office that found Maine in violation of Title IX for “continuing to unlawfully allow” trans girls to compete in girl’s sports has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a Monday social media post from the agency.
Read more here.
6 days ago
Federal probe targets Maine school gender policies, citing parental rights
District policies that protect students’ privacy when it comes to gender identity might be violating federal law by depriving parents of information, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In another directed investigation launched by the department based on reports from right-wing media about Maine districts complying with the Maine Human Rights Act, the department alleged that by developing plans to affirm students’ gender, districts may be in violation of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA).
In a letter dated March 28 to the Maine Department of Education, Frank Miller, acting director for the Student Privacy Policy Office, highlighted a 2016 memo by the Maine Human Rights Commission that explains the interpretation of the Act: “In the event that the student and their parent/legal guardian do not agree with regard to the student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, the educational institution should, whenever possible, abide by the wishes of the student with regard to their gender identity and expression while at school,” the memo states.
“The overall memorandum on its face appears to give school officials discretion that would infringe on the rights of a parent under FERPA,” Miller said in his letter.
He also alleged that “this same rhetoric may lead to Title IX violations if applied in a school environment,” which may warrant the investigation to be referred to the OCR.
Read more here.
1 week ago
Gov. Mills responds to Trump’s demand for apology
Gov. Janet Mills responded to President Donald Trump’s demand that she apologize after the Democrat refused to capitulate to an executive order banning transgender girls from student athletics.
“I don’t communicate with public officials by tweet or Instagram or social media,” Mills told reporters, referring to Trump’s weekend post on Truth Social, at a Monday event celebrating the purchase of Bangor mobile home park by its residents.
“Second, all of my issues are about the rule of law pure and simple,” she continued. “It’s not about transgender sports, it is about who makes the laws and who enforces the laws. I read the constitution. Constitution says the president, the chief executive, shall take care that the law be faithfully executed. It doesn’t allow him to make laws out of whole cloth by tweet or Instagram post or press release or executive order that is fundamental law, and I stand for the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
Without naming Trump, Mills went on to say that “if the current occupant of the White House wants to protect women and girls, he should start by protecting the women and teenage girls who are suffering miscarriages and dying because they can’t get basic, life-saving health care in states across this country,” according to the Bangor Daily News.
She added that people in Maine are waiting for an economic plan. “We’ve seen tariffs and threat of tariffs that threaten our economy here in Maine and across the country.”
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education notified Maine that its Department of Education was found in violation of Title IX, a federal civil rights rule that bans sex-based discrimination in schools, giving the state 10 days to comply. Maine is expected to respond with legal action.
Last updated: 12:59 pm
1 week ago
Trump demands Gov. Mills give ‘full-throated apology’
In a post to his Truth Social account early Saturday, President Donald Trump demanded a “full-throated apology” from Gov. Janet Mills, following her refusal to cave to his administration’s order to ban transgender girls from girls sports.
Maine public schools follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which was amended in 2021 to include gender identity as a protected class against discrimination.
The Republican president also incorrectly claimed that the state has issued an apology for its policy — something that was swiftly rebutted by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who wrote that, as the “official keeper of all state records and guardian of the seal,” she “can confirm ‘State of Maine’ hasn’t apologized.”
Here’s Trump’s full post:
“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 Governor’s Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases. 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!!! DJT”
2 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Education determines Maine guilty of violating Title IX
The U.S. Department of Education notified Maine late Wednesday that its Department of Education was found in violation of a federal civil rights rule that bans sex-based discrimination in schools.
The letter, addressed to Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin from the U.S. DOE Office for Civil Rights, said the determination is based on state and district policies that permit transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. It gives the state ten days to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sports.
Maine public schools follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which was amended in 2021 to include gender identity as a protected class against discrimination. Title IX, the federal law banning sex-based discrimination does not reference trans people directly, but the Trump administration is interpreting Maine’s policy as discrimination against cisgender girls.
This finding is the latest among several federal probes launched against the state following a clash between Gov. Janet Mills and Trump over trans inclusion in girls’ sports.
Read more here.
Last updated: 1:03 pm
2 weeks ago
USDA deems University of Maine System to be in compliance with Title IX
Though the University of Maine System was officially cleared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any violations of Title IX, Chancellor Dannel Malloy said the system had been in compliance the entire time, having previously called the probe “an unnecessary distraction.”
UMS follows National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, which were updated last month to ban trans women from women’s sports after President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sport.
The USDA investigation was among several launched last month as part of federal scrutiny of Maine’s education policies, stemming from a clash between Gov. Janet Mills and Trump over trans inclusion in girls’ sports. USDA froze funds to the university system last week for potential Title IX and Title IV violations, which ban sex and race-based discrimination respectively. After Sen. Susan Collins reportedly intervened with the Trump administration, funding to UMS was restored.
On Wednesday, USDA concluded its compliance review in a news release saying that the university system was in compliance but also warning the rest of the state to follow suit or risk losing funding.
“UMaine’s decision to side with sanity is a win for women and girls in Maine,” the release said. “The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding.”
Read more here.
Last updated: 5:35 pm
2 weeks ago
Trump administration says Maine Principals’ Association, high school violating Title IX
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced on Monday that it determined the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School in Cumberland are each in violation of Title IX for allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports.
On Feb. 21, DHHS issued a notice of violation against the Maine Department of Education for violating that same federal civil rights law, which bans sex-based discrimination in schools and colleges, and on March 5 expanded the compliance review to MPA, which governs sports in Maine, and Greely High School.
According to DHHS, the entities can “voluntarily commit within 10 days to resolve the matter through a signed agreement or risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for appropriate action.” The full agreement, obtained by the Bangor Daily News, can be read here.
Read more here.
Last updated: 11:08 am
3 weeks ago
USDA backtracks on university funding halt
Two days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would be halting funds to the University of Maine System while it continues its Title IX compliance review, the agency backtracked.
In a statement, Sen. Susan Collins said after consulting with the Trump administration she was alerted that the funding had been restored.
“This USDA funding is critically important not only to the University of Maine, but to our farmers and loggers, as well as to the many people who work in Maine’s agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry industries,” Collins said. “Now that funding has been restored, the work that the University does in partnership with the many people and communities who depend on these programs can continue.”
3 weeks ago
Amid probe, U.S. Department of Agriculture halts funding to Maine university system
On March 10, just over two weeks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an investigation into the University of Maine System, school leaders received a forwarded email from USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer apparently ordering a temporary pause in funding for the system while the agency evaluates whether it should take any follow-up actions to “prospective Title VI or Title IX violations,” according to a news release from the university system.
“Please take any necessary actions to effectuate this direction from leadership. This pause will remain in effect until further notice,” the USDA email said.
Last fiscal year, USDA awarded $29.78 million to UMaine for research on a wide variety of agriculture innovations and environmental issues, including PFAS contamination on Maine farms, sustainable packaging materials derived from Maine forest-based materials, potato breeding and varietal development, sustainable lobster fishing and support for 4-H youth leadership and STEM skill development programs, which serve tens of thousands of Maine youth every year.
The University of Southern Maine also has several active USDA awards.
The state’s public universities are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which banned trans women from women’s sports following Trump’s executive order, and are “operating in a manner entirely consistent with that association’s recently updated policies,” university spokesperson Samantha Warren said.
That means that the funding was halted despite the fact that the system can’t allow trans women to compete on women’s teams.
Read more here.
Last updated: 10:56 am
3 weeks ago
Social Security snafu puts state on edge
Another incident that was initially thought to be retaliatory but later deemed an “error” had state officials on edge.
On March 6, the Portland Press Herald reported that Maine Department of Health and Human Services had been notified by the Social Security Administration that it would be ending the “Enumeration at Birth” process, which allows parents to check a box on a form shortly after a child’s birth in order to receive a mailed Social Security card.
The state agency sent an email to birth certifiers on March 5 alerting them of the change, “effective immediately.”
By March 7, the agency had reversed course while Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins asked for a briefing “to explain why this decision was made at the start.”
A spokesperson for Collins told Maine Morning Star that the Republican did receive a call from Social Security Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek during which he explained it was done in error and let her know it was fully reversed.
Last updated: 12:29 pm
3 weeks ago
Maine Sea Grant to be renegotiated
Less than one week after the University of Maine System was notified that funding for the Maine Sea Grant program had been cut, the U.S. Department of Commerce said on March 5 it would “reopen bilateral negotiations” after appeals from members of Maine’s congressional delegation.
Vice Admiral Nancy Hann credited Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ outreach to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. Independent Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree also sent a letter to Lutnick demanding he immediately reverse the “reckless decision” to terminate the federal grant.
3 weeks ago
Maine Sea Grant funding cut
The University of Maine said it was notified late Feb. 28 that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was immediately discontinuing funding for the $4.5 million Maine Sea Grant, according to university spokesperson Samantha Warren.
The grant has helped finance statewide research, strengthened coastal communities and supported thousands of jobs over more than five decades.
The Maine Sea Grant fosters coastal workforce development, hands-on marine science education for students of all grade levels, research to inform lobster and other fisheries management, as well as storm preparedness for working waterfronts.
It has supported thousands of jobs over more than five decades, including 20 current university employees, according to Warren, who said that every federal dollar spent on the program results in $15 of economic activity in the state, amounting to a total annual impact of $23.5 million.
However, the letter from NOAA said the grant’s work is “no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives.”
Maine’s Sea Grant program is one of 34 across coastal and Great Lakes states throughout the country. However, it appears to have been the only one cut.
Read more here.
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Justice threatens to sue Maine
In a letter to Mills dated Feb. 25, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened to sue the state if federal investigations show that “relevant Maine entities are indeed denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against” trans girls.
“Maine should be on notice,” Bondi warned, adding that “the Department of Justice stands ready to take all appropriate action to enforce federal law,” referring to the Trump administration’s interpretation of TItle IX.
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines Maine guilty of Title IX violation
On Feb. 25, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a notice of violation against the Maine Department of Education for violating Title IX.
Concluding just four days after it was launched, the investigation included no interviews, data requests or negotiations, according to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, which was notified by the agency via emailed letter that the state had violated Title IX, the federal law banning sex-based discrimination in schools and colleges. The letter also handed the case over to the U.S. Department of Justice — a rare outcome for such a probe.
The lack of process followed by the agency’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) defies decades of precedent, according to Jackie Wernz, a former OCR lawyer for the U.S. Department of Education who now represents schools nationwide in such cases. Within any federal agency, the OCR typically conducts lengthy investigations with fact-finding, interviews and legal analysis of how exactly the agency under investigation violated federal laws the office is tasked with upholding, including Title IX.
But in this case, OCR simply appears to be enforcing the Trump administration’s stance on trans athletes, according to Wernz.
If Maine does not sue or comply, the department could withhold funds from the state as soon as 10 days after the notice, which was sent on Feb. 25. While the letter does not go into detail about the exact amount of funding that could be withheld, Maine received more than $700,000 from HHS in 2024.
Read more here.
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Agriculture Title IX review
On Feb. 22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified Maine Gov. Janet Mills and University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy that it had also launched a Title IX review.
As a land grant university, the University of Maine System receives funding from the agency’s Agricultural Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which in recent years totaled over $100 million, according to USDA Acting General Counsel Ralph Linden.
“Should the University of Maine or other entities receiving funds from USDA be found to be out of compliance, additional funding may be in jeopardy,” Linden wrote.
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Title IX investigation
On Feb. 21, the same day that the U.S. Department of Education announced its investigation into Maine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ civil rights division quickly followed suit.
The agency said it was initiating a compliance review of the Maine Department of Education, including the University of Maine System, “based on information that Maine intends to defy” the president’s executive order on transgender athletes.
“The investigation will examine whether the State of Maine engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, and its HHS implementing regulation,” the announcement read.
3 weeks ago
U.S. Department of Education Title IX review
Hours after Mills and Trump traded barbs, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it was launching a Title IX investigation into the Maine Department of Education as well as Maine School Administrative District 51, which is based in Cumberland, in response to reports that Greely High School is “continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories.”
The agency is arguing that Maine schools’ adherence to the protections in the Maine Human Rights Act is in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives federal funding.
In response, Mills issued a statement saying the effort to “withhold federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will” is “a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.”
Read the full article here
