The Trump administration is giving Maine another 10 days to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports.
That comes as Maine failed to comply with President Donald Trump’s February executive order that attempts to prohibit transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
In the letter dated Monday, Bradley Burke, the regional director for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, said Maine has until the end of day on April 11 to inform the Trump administration of its compliance. Otherwise, Maine could face sanction or the case could be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Maine has been at the center of a sprawling web of federal investigations over the state’s policies toward transgender athletes. To date, at least six agencies have launched investigations into the state, the Maine Department of Education, the University of Maine System, the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School in Cumberland, potentially risking millions in federal funds.
The state was thrust into Trump’s crosshairs in February when a viral social media post from state Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, took issue with a transgender athlete who won a girls’ track-and-field title. The Maine House has since censured Libby for her post, and she is suing House Speaker Ryan Fecteau to get her floor privileges back.
In response to Trump’s executive order, the Maine Principals’ Association, which runs high school sports, affirmed it will continue to allow trans athletes to compete in accordance with the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
That continues the association’s longstanding policy of inclusion, which allowed trans athletes to play in sports consistent with their gender identity, unless there was a safety risk.
Between 2013 and 2021, the association heard from 56 students wishing to participate during that time, only four of whom were trans girls. Only two trans girls are playing on sports teams across the state this school year.
Trump then threatened to withhold federal funds from Maine until the state complied with his order. That led to a heated exchange between him and Gov. Janet Mills at a White House event in Washington.
Soon after the Trump administration launched several Title IX investigations into Maine, which concluded, after four days, that the state had violated federal law. Mills has blasted those investigations as having a “predetermined” conclusion, noting that no state officials were interviewed.
Maine Principals’ Association has pushed back, saying the Trump administration has no authority to investigate the organization because it receives no federal funding. Both the association and Greely High School won’t sign an agreement with the Trump administration that they violated Title IX.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said last month the UMaine System was in compliance with Title IX and has been able to access federal funds. In that same announcement, the agency delivered an ultimatum from the administration to Maine.
“The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding,” the USDA said.
On March 19, the U.S. Department of Education notified its state counterpart of its alleged violation of Title IX. As evidence, the feds pointed to state law, the Maine Department of Education’s regulations and guidance to school districts, and the department’s relationship with the Maine Principals’ Association.
The Maine attorney general’s office acknowledged the state’s receipt of that notice the same day.
The initial 10-day deadline to comply has come and gone, and Burke wrote in his Monday letter that the Maine Department of Education has “clearly demonstrated” it is “refusing” to discuss the matter and that there’s no apparent resolution in sight.
If the case is referred to the Justice Department, Maine could face legal action, which U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has pledged.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in late March referred its Title IX case to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The conflict between Trump and Mills has continued to play out publicly in recent days, with Trump over the weekend demanding a “full throated apology” from the governor. Last week, Mills responded, without naming Trump, saying that if the “current occupant of the White House” cares about women and girls, he should ensure they have access to life-saving medical care.
In early March, the Social Security Administration ended a program that allowed Maine parents to register their newborns for Social Security numbers at the hospital where they were born. Instead, they would have to fill out paperwork in person at one of the state’s eight Social Security offices. The agency reversed that decision within 48 hours. Last week, the agency’s acting administrator, Leland Dudek, admitted that he ended that program because he was “ticked” at Mills because of her war of words with Trump.
The Trump administration also pulled funding for Maine Sea Grant, but since then, the Commerce Department has said it will renegotiate that grant. More than 30 states, Puerto Rico and Guam participate in the national Sea Grant program. No other Sea Grant program has seen its funding cut.
Then, late last week, the U.S. Department of Education expanded its investigations into Maine, alleging the state was complicit in local school districts hiding students’ “gender plans” from their parents.
