Maine has reached a settlement with the Trump administration, agreeing to drop its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to pull funding from the blue state after Governor Janet Mills refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order barring men from women’s sports.
In exchange, the Trump administration agreed to stop cutting off federal funding for nutrition programs used to feed children in schools and childcare centers. The settlement was entered into the record on Friday.
“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,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement. “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.”
In April, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order forcing USDA to unfreeze the funding after concluding Maine was likely to succeed in its legal challenge. The judge also found that the USDA likely did not comply with all legally required procedures when deciding to suspend the state’s funds.
“The USDA admitted no liability or wrongdoing, as reflected by the terms of the parties’ agreement resolving the matter,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Lizotte, counsel for USDA and Secretary Rollins, told National Review regarding the settlement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office has no additional comment.”
In the federal lawsuit filed last month, Frey argued the USDA’s decision to unilaterally freeze Maine’s funds allocated to feed schoolchildren was unlawful. The Democratic attorney general also maintained that the state did not violate Title IX, contrary to the Trump administration’s claim.
Friday’s settlement does not affect the Department of Justice’s lawsuit alleging Maine violated Title IX by continuing to let transgender-identifying male athletes play in women’s sports. That lawsuit was filed after the DOJ exhausted every other remedy in getting Maine to comply with the sex-based discrimination law, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in mid-April.
Governor Mills was made aware of the funding freeze in an April 2 letter written by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, who said the action would target “certain administrative and technological functions in schools” in response to Maine’s lack of cooperation on the transgender sports issue.
The legal battles were first sparked by Trump’s spat with Mills at a White House event with Democratic and Republican governors in February. Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from Maine if it didn’t comply with his newly signed executive order that keeps men out of women’s sports nationwide.
Mills objected to the threat, vowing to see the administration in court. Trump shot back, saying the court battle “should be a really easy one” to win and that she wouldn’t be an elected official much longer if she refused to abide by federal civil rights law.