Trump Administration Pauses Funding To Maine Colleges As State Defies Order To Ban Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

Alessio AtriaMarch 23, 2025, 2:45 pmNews >

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) temporarily stopped funding the University of Maine System (UMS) after the state disobeyed Donald Trump’s executive order to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.

The UMS, a network of eight public colleges in Maine, made this announcement in an update posted on its website. “The University of Maine System (UMS) learned Monday that its funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been temporarily paused,” the update reads.

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“An email forwarded to the University of Maine that appears to have originated from the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer directs the Department’s ‘awarding agencies and staff offices to temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other releases of funding to Columbia University or the University of Maine System,'” the network added. “The message further stated, ‘This pause is temporary in nature while USDA evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions related to prospective Title VI or Title IX violations. Please take any necessary actions to effectuate this direction from leadership. This pause will remain in effect until further notice.'”

According to the UMS, Title VI is alluding to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids “recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.”

On Feb. 22, the USDA revealed that, based on suggestions that Maine is openly ignoring the executive order, it would initiate a Title IX compliance review of the University of Maine despite the Department asserting no wrongdoing by the public university.

In this review, the USDA was referring to Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which enforces the equal opportunity guaranteed by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

Title IX is a federal law that bans “sex-based discrimination in schools and education programs that receive federal funding.”

“Three days later, USDA staff contacted UMS as part of that review,” the network mentioned in the update. “System staff provided timely responses to the federal agriculture department’s questions, which were not specific to any one UMS university and largely focused on whether biological males could compete on women’s sports teams.”

“In verbal responses to USDA on Feb. 25 and written responses that followed on Feb. 26, the System confirmed its athletic programs were in compliance with relevant State and Federal laws and that UMS universities that are members of the NCAA are also operating in a manner entirely consistent with that association’s recently updated policies, which do not allow for varsity student-athletes assigned male at birth to compete in female sports,” they noted. “The System also explained to USDA that it is a quasi-independent State entity.”

“UMS had not received any further communication from USDA related to the Title IX compliance review since Feb. 26 until the email noting the funding pause was forwarded to the flagship on March 10,” the UMS went on to say. “UMS is unaware of being subject to any compliance reviews by USDA or any other federal agencies pertaining to Title VI.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has publically clashed with Trump over the transgender ban.

GOP governors have been active in the area for years. On March 11, 2021, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed a bill that bans transgender athletes from competing on girl’s or women’s sports teams. Seven months later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation that banned transgender girls from competing in female sports at public schools.