Maine’s attorney general Aaron Frey hit the Trump administration on Friday when a federal judge ruled that a freezing of funds for the State should be raised when the State refuses to amend its policies regarding transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports.
The judge of the District Court John Woodcock issued the temporary restriction order, which was suspended in the middle of the fight of President Donald Trump with the governor of Maine Janet Mills on the transgender athletes. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the freezing of funds last week.
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The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, speaks during the work session of the governors in the state dining room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, February 21, 2025. (Francis Chung/Politic/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
“This temporary restriction order confirms that the Trump administration did not follow the rule of law when it reduced the funds of the program that will feed the schoolchildren and vulnerable adults,” said Frey’s statement. “This order preserves Maine’s access to certain funds assigned to Congress by prohibiting an illegal freezing by the administration.
“No one in our constitutional republic is above the law and we will continue to fight to make this administration count.”
The USDA “must defrost immediately and release the state of Maine any federal financing that freezed or failed or have refused to pay due to the alleged breach of the state of Maine in complying with the requirements of Title IX”, is read in the Woodcock ruling.
Maine school officials address the refusal to prohibit trans athletes from girls sports amid the deadline for consequences
Governor Janet Mills attends an event on March 11, 2022 in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, Archive)
The administration was also “prohibited to freeze, end or interfere with the other way with the future federal financing of the State of Maine for alleged violations of title IX without complying with the legally required procedure.”
Maine has refused to comply with Trump’s executive order to prohibit biological men from women and women’s sports. Initially, Trump promised to reduce federal funds to the State if he refused to comply with the order during a speech on February 20.
Maine officials filed a lawsuit against USDA on Monday after the agency’s decision to freeze funds to the State.
The State accused USDA of “retaining the funds used to feed children in schools, child care centers and programming after school, as well as disabled adults in congregated environments”, an argument with which the judge agreed. The judge pointed out that the freezing was due to violations of Title IX, but restricted the capacity of “provid[e] Meals to vulnerable children and adults. “
The Capitol of the State of Maine is photographed in Augusta, Maine. (Eyecrave productions through Getty Images)
After Trump signed an executive order to prohibit trans athletes from women and girls sports on February 5, Maine was one of the many states that openly challenged the order.
