Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have settled a lawsuit over the USDA’s freezing of $3 million in response to the state’s refusal to follow the president’s order to ban transgender female athletes from female sports programs.

In February, the president signed an executive order called “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which commanded federal agencies to investigate school districts that allow trans athletes to compete in school sports. The order said that the inclusion of trans female athletes in girls’ and women’s sports violates Title IX, a provision of a 1972 education law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any federally funded school.

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Trump admin cut off food aid for kids in Maine to punish state over trans athletes. They’re suing.
Trump officials froze funding for low-income kids’ food after the governor clashed with Donald Trump.

In February, the president began publicly criticizing Maine’s trans-inclusive sports policies, pledging to revoke its federal educational funding unless it banned trans students from participating in school sports. In response, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) accused the president of attempting to “unilaterally deprive Maine school children” and pledged that her state’s attorney general would “take all appropriate and necessary legal action” to restore the federal funding.

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Days later, Mills opposed the president in person at a White House governors meeting. When he asked for her by name and once again pledged to cut off federal funding, Mills said that her state was following state and federal laws. The president then declared, “We are the federal law… You better do it.” Mills replied, “See you in court.” The president agreed, said her state would be easily defeated in court, and voiced doubt about Mills’ future in electoral politics.

The following day, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a “compliance review” of the University of Maine’s policies on trans athletes, pledging to revoke its federal land grant. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins then sent a letter to Mills, stating the USDA would freezing state’s funding until all state schools complied with the president’s order.

The funding freeze impacted the salaries of workers administering school food programs, according to WGME. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said the freezing was illegal since Congress had already appropriated the funding.

“There was no investigation, there was no notice, and there was no lawful process that was followed,” Frey said, adding. “Maine had no choice but to bring suit to confront this unlawful action by the USDA.”

In April, a federal judge ordered the administration to unfreeze the funds, finding that Maine was likely to succeed in its legal challenge.

The settlement, which does not assert 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 a statement, Frey wrote, “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. 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.”

The settlement doesn’t affect another ongoing 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.

“I told him I’d see him in court,” Mills said. “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.”

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