The University of Maine (UM) is under review by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for alleged Title IX violations under Executive Order 14201 (EO14201), which dictates the division of sports by sex assigned at birth and imposes funding cuts for defiance.
The order, signed February 5, effectively bans transgender athletes from participating in sports based on their gender identity, conflicting with Maine’s gender identity protections. The executive branch is directing federal agencies to interpret Title IX to align with the order, but Maine officials have vowed to challenge any attempts to cut funding, calling the effort illegal.
During the Governor’s Working Session at the White House on Friday, Maine’s governor Janet Mills endured a tense exchange with the president, who singled her out and threatened to withhold federal funding unless the state complied with the order. Mills insisted that Maine would abide by the law, and the confrontation escalated to include remarks about her political career.
On Saturday, UM legal counsel received a memo from the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) addressed to the governor, the UM system chancellor, and the state attorney general. The memo reads, in part:
“Based upon indications that the State of Maine is openly disregarding [the order], the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights is initiating a compliance review of the University of Maine… Should the University of Maine or other entities receiving funds from USDA be found to be out of compliance, additional funding may be in jeopardy.”
UM, a leading land-grant university, has secured significant prior support from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, recently surpassing $100 million in active awards.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement, “Fortunately, the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us… It is disturbing that [the president] would use children as pawns in advancing his political agenda.”
