Maine Universities Back Down on Transgender Athletes After Trump Administration Halts Funding

On Wednesday, the University of Maine System (UMS) agreed to enact bans on so-called “transgender athletes” after an executive order by President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding from any universities that allow such participation.

Fox News reports that the agreement was announced in a statement by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday, as the USDA had been providing funding to the university system. The UMS consists of eight public universities in the state of Maine, and were among the public education systems that saw a temporary halt in federal funding as a result of their inclusion of biologically male athletes on female sports teams. Funding was subsequently restored to UMS due to its compliance with the order.

“After the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated a Title IX compliance review regarding federal funding, the University of Maine System (UMaine) has clearly communicated its compliance with Title IX’s requirement to protect equal opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports, as articulated in President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order,” said the USDA in its statement. “Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability.”

In a separate statement, UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy said that he was “relieved” to have been able to reach an agreement with the federal government.

“The University of Maine System has always maintained its compliance with state and federal laws and with NCAA rules, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture also affirmed in a press release today,” said Chancellor Malloy.

“We are relieved to put the Department’s Title IX compliance review behind us so the land-grant University of Maine and our statewide partners can continue to leverage USDA and other essential federal funds to strengthen and grow our natural resource economy and dependent rural communities through world-class education, research and extension,” he continued.

In the 2024 fiscal year, the USDA had funded UMS to the tune of $29.78 million for research purposes. The USDA said that over the course of the last several years, it had provided over $100 million in funding to UMS.

The Trump Administration’s focus on Maine in particular came after a confrontation between President Trump and Governor Janet Mills (D-Maine) at a meeting of governors at the White House. When President Trump singled out Maine for its then-ongoing practice of allowing transgender athletes to compete on the teams of their choice, Mills threatened legal action against the president, with President Trump accepting the challenge.

Later that same day, the U.S. Department of Education announced its investigation into the state of Maine for violation of female students’ civil rights under Title IX. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also declared that it found the state’s public education system to be in violation of Title IX and would refer the state to the Department of Justice (DOJ) if it did not drop its transgender acceptance policy.