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The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched an investigation into the University of Maine, after what it called the state’s “blatant disregard” of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
This follows Friday’s announcement that his administration would investigate the Maine Department of Education and a local school district over policies allowing transgender students to participate in athletics.
Ralph Linden, acting general counsel for the USDA, sent a letter Saturday announcing the review to Gov. Janet Mills, University of Maine system chancellor Dannel Malloy, and the Maine attorney general’s office.
“President Trump has made it abundantly clear: taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in a press release. “U.S.D.A. is committed to upholding the resident’s executive order, meaning any institution that chooses to disregard it can count on losing future funding.”
The executive order, No. 14201, is titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.
The compliance reviews come after Trump said on Thursday that he would take away Maine’s federal funding, prompting a war of words with Gov. Janet Mills at a White House event on Friday.
The University of Maine receives over $100 million in USDA funding, according to the press release.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funding.
