Maine Says USDA Unlawfully Froze Funds Over Trans Athlete Policy

The US Department of Agriculture is unlawfully withholding funds from Maine over the state’s permitting of transgender girls to participate in female sports, the state alleged in a Monday complaint.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins notified Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on April 2 that the department was withholding funds that aid the state in feeding schoolchildren due to Maine’s alleged violations of Title IX, the complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Maine said.

President Donald Trump warned Mills in February that his administration would withhold federal funds allocated to Maine if her state didn’t comply with his Feb. 5 executive order prohibiting transgender women and girls from participating in female sports. Mills responded that Maine was complying with federal and state laws, and remarked, “see you in court,” during a Feb. 21 exchange at the White House.

Maine’s Human Rights Act allows students to compete on sports teams based on their gender identity, and provides guidance for situations where the participation of a transgender student might pose “significant risk” to the student or other participants.

On April 2, Rollins sent Mills a letter stating USDA was “freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools,” adding that it’s “only the beginning.” The letter went on to say that Maine has to comply with “Title IX’s protection of female student athletes” from competing with male athletes, the complaint said.

But Maine’s Department of Education houses the Child Nutrition Program, which administers federal programs to fight childhood hunger with the help of USDA funding. The day after Rollins sent her letter to Mills, the program allegedly “was unable to access several sources of federal funds,” which “directly impairs the ability of the CNP to feed children,” according to the complaint. The state claimed it doesn’t have funds available to replace the frozen federal grants.

USDA and Rollins’ funding freeze allegedly violates the Administrative Procedure Act, since they didn’t follow statutory requirements to notify Maine that it wasn’t in compliance before withholding funds, conduct an investigation, or submit a report to Congress. The agency and Rollins also didn’t provide any legal explanation in determining that allowing transgender girls to participate on female teams violates Title IX, the state alleged.

The state also asserted that “several federal courts” have held that Title IX and the equal protection clause of the US Constitution “require schools to permit transgender girls and women to play on girls’ and women’s teams.”

Maine is seeking an injunction preventing USDA from terminating or impeding its access to federal funds allocated to any of the state’s agencies over its alleged Title IX noncompliance.

USDA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. is assigned the case.

The case is State of Me. v. USDA, D. Me., No. 1:25-cv-00131, complaint filed 4/7/25.