By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration agreed on Friday to refrain from unilaterally cutting off Maine’s access to federal funding used to feed school children, ending one of several legal fights stemming from the state’s refusal to comply with his demands to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports teams.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture settled with the Democratic-led state three weeks after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking it from cutting off federal funds used for nutrition programs.
“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,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, said in a statement.
USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
The settlement does not affect the Trump administration’s decision to sue Maine over allegations that it is violating Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs, or the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to launch an administrative proceeding to cut off all federal education funding for Maine’s public schools.
The U.S. departments of Education and Justice claim that Maine is violating Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
The Education Department proceeding puts about $250 million Maine receives annually for school funding into jeopardy. The funding at issue with USDA was a smaller sum, about $3 million.
Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills clashed with the Republican president over the issue of transgender athletes during a White House event in February.
At a February 21 meeting with governors, Trump threatened to withhold funds from Maine if it did not comply with an executive order he signed banning transgender athletes from playing girls’ and women’s sports.
“We’re going to follow the law, sir,” Mills responded. “We’ll see you in court.”
USDA was the first agency to actually cut funding to Maine. But U.S. District Judge John Woodcock on April 11 concluded it likely did not comply with legal procedures when it froze funding and declared Maine was violating Title IX.
Rather than litigate over whether a longer-term injunction should be issued, USDA agreed to not freeze or terminate the state’s access to federal funds going forward without following all legally required procedures.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Chang)
Comments