Maine AG swipes Trump administration over judge’s funding-freeze ruling amid trans athlete battle

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey took a swipe at the Trump administration on Friday as a federal judge ruled that a funding freeze to the state must be lifted as the state refuses to amend its policies regarding transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

District Court Judge John Woodcock issued the temporary restraining order, which was suspended amid President Donald Trump’s fight with Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender athletes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the funding freeze last week.

“This temporary restraining order confirms the Trump Administration did not follow the rule of law when it cut program funds that go to feed school children and vulnerable adults,” Frey’s statement read. “This order preserves Maine’s access to certain congressionally appropriated funds by prohibiting an unlawful freeze by the administration. 

“No one in our constitutional republic is above the law and we will continue to fight to hold this administration to account.”

The USDA “must immediately unfreeze and release to the state of Maine any federal funding that they have frozen or failed or refused to pay because of the state of Maine’s alleged failure to comply with the requirements of Title IX,” Woodcock’s ruling read.

MAINE SCHOOL OFFICIALS ADDRESS REFUSAL TO BAN TRANS ATHLETES FROM GIRLS’ SPORTS AMID DEADLINE FOR CONSEQUENCES

The administration was also “barred from freezing, terminating, or otherwise interfering with the state of Maine’s future federal funding for alleged violations of Title IX without complying with the legally required procedure.”

Maine has refused to comply with Trump’s executive order to ban biological males from girls’ and women’s sports. Trump initially vowed to cut federal funding to the state if it were to refuse to comply with the order during a Feb. 20 speech. 

Maine officials filed a lawsuit against the USDA on Monday following the agency’s decision to freeze funding to the state.

The state accused the USDA of “withholding funding used to feed children in schools, childcare centers, and after-school programming as well as disabled adults in congregate settings,” an argument the judge agreed with. The judge noted that the freeze was due to Title IX violations, but it restricted the ability to “provid[e] meals to children and vulnerable adults.”

After Trump signed an executive order to ban trans athletes from women’s and girls’ sports on Feb. 5, Maine was one of the many states that openly defied the order.

Fox News’ CB Cotton and Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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