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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program that were suspended amid a disagreement between the state and the president over transgender athletes.
District Court Judge John Woodcock issued a temporary restraining order on Friday in a case brought by the state of Maine against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
An email message seeking comment was sent Saturday to the Agriculture Department.
At issue was the freezing of federal funds to Maine for certain administrative and technological functions in the state's schools. A letter from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins explained the decision stemmed from a disagreement between the state and federal governments over whether Maine was complying with Title IX, the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex.
Soon after the secretary's letter was sent, Maine's Department of Education could not access several sources of federal funds for a state nutrition program, according to the court's written order.
The lawsuit, brought by state Attorney General Aaron Frey, states that the child nutrition program received or was due to receive more than $1.8 million for the current fiscal year. Prior year funds that were awarded but are currently inaccessible total more than $900,000, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also says that the program was anticipating about $3 million that is typically awarded every July for summer meal program sponsor administration and meal reimbursement.
The dispute between Maine and the Trump administration has roots in the president's push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes. In February, the president and governor sparred during a meeting at the White House. As the president discussed an executive order on transgender athletes, he sought out Gov. Janet Mills and asked her if she'd comply with it.
She told him she'd comply with state and federal law.
“You’d better comply,” Trump warned. “Otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.”
The governor responded that she'd see the administration in court.
Woodcock wrote that his order did not directly address the larger dispute that formed the “backdrop of the impasse.”
The court's order came the same day Maine officials said the state would not comply with a ban on transgender athletes in high school sports in the wake of a Trump administration finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing the students to participate.
The U.S. Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams.
