Trump Sics His DOJ On Maine Over Men In Women’s Sports

The Department of Education has referred its investigation into the alleged Title IX violations of Maine to the Department of Justice.

The Education Department announced the referral on Friday, less than two months after President Donald Trump and Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills had a fiery exchange at the White House over males participating in female sports.

“The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state’s leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students’ safety, privacy, and dignity,” said acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a statement.

“The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department. Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom — be careful what you wish for,” continued Trainor. “Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.”

The Education Department plans to move forward with restricting federal taxpayer funds to Maine’s Department of Education, according to the statement.

The Trump administration has investigated Maine for weeks over the state’s policies allowing transgender-identifying athletes to participate in female sports. The administration has said that Maine’s policies violate Title IX rules against gender discrimination.

The Trump administration’s latest move against Maine came after state officials refused to sign a resolution agreement with the federal government.

“Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams,” Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster said in a letter, according to ABC News. “Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds. To the contrary, various federal courts have held that Title IX and/or the Equal Protection Clause require schools to allow such participation.”

On Friday evening, a federal judge blocked a spending freeze already initiated on funds to Maine from the Department of Agriculture. U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock Jr. issued the injunction, temporarily restoring lost funds to the state.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, known for her centrist record among Republicans, sided with the Trump administration on Friday and urged Mills to change course.

“People who are transgender deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. But that does not change the fact that Title IX mandated equal access to athletic resources and facilities on the basis of sex – not on the basis of gender identity. Safe and fair athletic competition has been one of the keys to the success of Title IX,” Collins said in a statement. “While I will continue to advocate strongly for federal funding for Maine, I disagree with the state’s position and instead support the original intent behind Title IX.”