The State of Maine sued the Agriculture Department on Monday, arguing that the agency violated the law when it froze funding to Maine last week and that the freeze threatened school meal programs.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court, is the latest escalation of Maine’s standoff with the Trump administration over transgender athletes, which began when President Trump chastised Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, at the White House in February. Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to punish the state if it does not comply with his executive order banning transgender women from women’s sports.
The federal government maintains that a Maine law prohibiting discrimination against transgender people, and the state’s policy of allowing transgender athletes to play on women’s teams, are violations of Title IX, the civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
“You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated,” Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, wrote in a letter to Ms. Mills last week, according to the lawsuit. “This is only the beginning, though you are free to end it at any time by protecting women and girls in compliance with federal law.”
Aaron Frey, Maine’s attorney general, argues in the state’s lawsuit that Title IX does not prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. In fact, the complaint says, federal courts have held that civil rights laws require schools to allow such participation.
The state contends that the Agriculture Department did not follow required procedures before freezing the funding. Because the funding covers salaries for workers who run the statewide school meals program, and the cost of their phones and computers, the lawsuit states, halting it threatens the program.
“Under the banner of keeping children safe, the Trump administration is illegally withholding grant funds that go to keeping children fed,” Mr. Frey said in a statement, adding that “this action is necessary to remind the president that Maine will not be bullied into violating the law.”
The state is seeking an emergency court order to restore the funding.
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