Trump admin responds to Maine's reluctance to ban trans athletes from girls' sports
As Maine continues to defy President Donald Trump's executive order to ban trans athletes from girls' sports, the administration has ramped up its focus on the state as one of the key battlegrounds over the issue.
Earlier this week, Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights (OCR) officially announced it found the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals' Association and Greely High School in violation of Title IX for its continued enabling of trans inclusion in girls' sports.
Now, OCR acting director Anthony Archeval has provided a statement to Fox News Digital warning of potential consequences for continued defiance of the executive order.
"What HHS is asking of the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals' Association, and Greely High School is simple – protect female athletes' rights. Girls deserve girls-only sports without male competitors. And if Maine won't come to the table to voluntarily comply with Title IX, HHS will enforce Title IX to the fullest extent permitted by the law," Archeval said.
HHS' initial announcement that the entities had violated Title IX also warned that the state had 10 days to correct its policies through a signed agreement or risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for appropriate action.
The Trump administration recently has reportedly made good on its vow to cut federal funding to enforce the executive order. On Wednesday, FOX Business reported that $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania has been paused over its past inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports.
Last week, a temporary pause was put on Department of Agriculture funding to Maine University System, Fox News Digital reported. That funding has since been reinstated.
Now, Archeval's warning comes one day after the Maine Principal's Association issued a response to the Trump administration's declaration that the state had violated Title IX.
"The alleged violation is due to MPA's policy which is a direct result of the Maine Human Rights Acts mandate that athletes be allowed to participate on the teams which align with their gender identity. MPA's policy is consistent with Maine State Law," the response read.
"The determination that MPA has violated Title IX first requires that MPA be beholden to Title IX due to receiving direct or indirect funding from the federal government. In short, a small portion of our funding comes from 151 member schools who receive the majority of their funding from local property taxes and the state. The vast majority of our funding comes from ticket sales, sponsorships, streaming, television and other contracts. Therefore, it is MPA's position that HHS does not have Title IX jurisdiction over MPA."
HHS served a notice of violation to the state of Maine on Feb. 25 and declared the state violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, Fox News Digital reported. HHS later expanded the scope of the investigation to include the Maine Principals' Association and Greely High School.
Maine became a focal point on the issue after state lawmaker Laurel Libby pointed out a biological male had won a girls' pole vault competition for Greely High School in early February.
Trump then vowed to cut funding to the state for refusing to follow his order on Feb. 20, during a meeting of GOP governors.
Gov. Janet Mills' office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump administration if it withheld federal funding from the state the next day. Then Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors.
Just hours after that interaction, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would investigate the state for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports and for potential Title IX violations.
Meanwhile, Libby has since been censured by the state legislature over her initial social media post that pointed out the trans athlete, and she has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to have the censure overturned.
The controversy has even incited a protest against Mills called the "March Against Mills" outside Maine's State House on March 1.
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