In a stunning victory for the state of Maine and its governor, Janet Mills (D), the Trump administration has pulled back on its freezing of funds for the state’s schools over their support of transgender rights.
On February 21, during a White House meeting with state governors, Trump directly threatened to revoke funding from Maine for not complying with an executive order banning transgender women and girls from women’s sports. This sparked a tense exchange between Mills and Trump.
“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.”
Now, over two months later, Trump and his administration are finding just how “real easy” a fight like this may end up being. In a settlement announced on Friday, May 2, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it would halt all efforts to withhold funds for a child nutrition program in Maine.
The settlement, without asserting wrongdoing by either Maine or the administration, says the USDA will “agree to refrain from freezing, termination, or otherwise interfering with the state of Maine’s access to United States Department of Agriculture funds … based on alleged violations of Title IX without first following all legally required procedures.”
In response to the victory, Aaron Frey, the Maine attorney general, said in a statement on Friday, “It’s unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get [the] USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations, 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.”
Mills, also upbeat from the win for Maine, talked about the triumph and how things look going forward. “I told him I’d see him in court,” she said, as reported by the Portland Press Herald. “Well, we did see him in court, and we won … It’s the congress that makes the law, not the president… These bullying tactics, we will not tolerate them … I am confident when we see him in court, we will win time and time again.”
While this case has been settled, the lawsuit filed by the presidential administration against Maine’s Department of Education for allowing trans student-athletes to compete on school teams matching their gender identities is still ongoing.