(The Center Square) — Maine is facing federal investigations of its Title IX programs following a testy exchange between Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Republican President Donald Trump over his administration’s push to prevent transgender individuals from competing in women’s sports.
The U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division announced on Friday that it is conducting a review of Maine’s Department of Education to determine if it is violating Trump’s ban on transgender women athletes.
The federal agency said it will also investigate a Maine school district after reports that school officials are allowing a male student to compete in girls’ categories, in violation of Trump’s executive order.
Both investigations were initiated after a fiery exchange between Trump and Mills at a White House meeting. Mills told Trump that she would not abide by his executive order banning transgender athletes in women’s sports. “See you in court,” she said, while seated with a group of bipartisan governors.
Craig Trainor, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division, said the Trump administration “will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators.” He said Maine would lose federal funds if it did not comply.
“Do not be misled: This is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a president can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law,” Mills said in a statement responding to the White House. “I believe he cannot.”
“In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so,” Mills said.
Shortly after taking office last month, Trump signed an executive order — “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” — that bans transgender athletes of all ages from competing on girls and women’s sports teams. The order threatened to withhold federal funding from states and schools that don’t comply with it.
Several lawsuits have been filed, challenging Trump’s order, including one filed on behalf of two transgender girls who attend high school in New Hampshire.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is pledging to file another legal challenge over Trump’s effort to force Maine to comply with Trump’s restrictions on transgender athletes.
“It is disturbing that President Trump would use children as pawns in advancing his political agenda,” Frey said in a statement. “Any attempt by the President to cut federal funding in Maine unless transgender athletes are restricted from playing sports would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders.”
