Latest news with #SarahForster
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump admin moves to withhold federal funds from Maine over trans athlete dispute
The U.S. Department of Education said Friday that it will proceed with withholding federal funds from Maine after officials in the state refused to sign a Title IX resolution agreement that would bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports in the state. The matter will also be deferred to the Department of Justice "for further enforcement action," the department said in a statement. MORE: Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, directing DOJ to enforce The actions come after the state informed the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights in a letter on Friday that the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Office of the Attorney General will not sign the resolution agreement. "Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls' and women's sports teams," Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster stated in the letter. "Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds. To the contrary, various federal courts have held that Title IX and/or the Equal Protection Clause require schools to allow such participation." Federal officials last month said they found the Maine Department of Education in noncompliance with President Donald Trump's executive order issued on Feb. 5 that bans transgender athletes from participating in women's sports. In a final warning letter sent to the state on March 31, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights gave the Maine Department of Education until April 11 to sign the resolution agreement before moving forward with the consequences for noncompliance. The Department of Education said Friday it will now "initiate an administrative proceeding to adjudicate termination of MDOE's federal K-12 education funding, including formula and discretionary grants," as well as refer the case to the DOJ. 'The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state's leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students' safety, privacy, and dignity,' Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement on Friday. 'The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department." Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills "would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom -- be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court," he added. Mills previously told Trump she would see him in court over the matter at a White House event with a bipartisan group of governors in February. MORE: Trump spars with Democratic Maine governor at White House event over transgender athlete executive order As Trump discussed his executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, he asked Mills directly, "Are you not going to comply with that?" She responded that she would comply with state and federal laws. "Well, I'm -- we are the federal law," Trump said, adding, "Well, you better do it. You better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't." Mills responded: "See you in court." "Good," Trump replied. "I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be an easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don't think you'll be in elected politics." After the White House gathering, Mills responded to Trump's threat to withhold federal funding in a statement, saying, "If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides. The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President's threats." ABC News' Hannah Demissie, Alexandra Hutzler, and Jack Moore contributed to this report. Trump admin moves to withhold federal funds from Maine over trans athlete dispute originally appeared on
Axios
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Maine defends transgender athletes as federal education money standoff deepens
Maine won't bar transgender athletes from competing in women's sports despite President Trump's threat to withhold federal funding, the state attorney general's office said Friday. The big picture: After Maine refused to budge, the Department of Education referred its Title IX investigation to the Department of Justice "for further enforcement action" and said it would initiate proceedings to cut federal K-12 education funding. The Trump administration has been clashing with the Democratic state's leadership as it seeks compliance with the president's executive order banning transgender women from women's sports. Driving the news: The Maine Attorney General's Office in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on Friday refused to sign an agreement directing the state's education agency to change its transgender athlete policy. "Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls' and women's sports teams," Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster wrote in the letter, stating they would not sign the agreement. The state attorney general's office said it does not have revisions to counter propose and "we agree that we are at an impasse." What they're saying: Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement that the Department of Education "has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state's leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students' safety, privacy, and dignity." Zoom out: Trump's executive order signed in February denies federal funding for schools that allow trans women or girls to play in capacities corresponding with their gender identity. Schools that don't abide will be considered in violation of Title IX, per the order. The latest: Also on Friday, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to immediately unfreeze any federal funding it may have paused over Maine's alleged failure to comply with Title IX.
Washington Post
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump administration to pull Maine K-12 funding over trans athletes spat
The Trump administration on Friday announced it would pull all federal education funding from Maine after state officials said they would not comply with demands from the Trump administration to ban transgender athletes from participation in women's sports, a dramatic escalation that could slash millions in federal funding from K-12 schools in the state. The move marks a major and retaliatory step forward in how far the administration is willing to go to force state governments to adhere to executive orders. Last month, the U.S. Department of Education began an investigation into a claim that the Maine Department of Education was in violation of Title IX — a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs receiving federal assistance — by allowing a trans athlete to participate in sports. Federal authorities proposed a resolution agreement to Maine officials that would require the state to show that its education agency 'and any other entity receiving federal funding that the Trump Administration will not tolerate unlawful discrimination against girls and women.' In a Friday letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, Sarah Forster, the state assistant attorney general, said Maine would not sign the resolution agreement, writing that the state and the federal government were 'at an impasse.' 'Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls' and women's sports teams,' Forster wrote. 'Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds. To the contrary, various federal courts have held that Title IX and/or the Equal Protection Clause require schools to allow such participation,' she added. The move prompted a swift response from the Trump administration's Department of Education, which promptly said it would cut all federal K-12 funding from Maine and refer its investigation into the state's education department to the Department of Justice 'for further enforcement action.' 'The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department,' Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a press release. A spokesperson for the Maine Office of the Attorney General declined to comment on the response from agency officials. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment. On Feb. 5, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, and denying federal funds for schools that allow it. That mandate came to a head during a heated exchange at a National Governors Association meeting on Feb. 21. At the event, Trump singled out Mills and asked if her state would comply with the order, to which she replied that Maine would follow state and federal law. Trump then threatened to cut off all funding to the state. 'See you in court,' Mills quipped. Since that brief interaction, the small New England state has been attacked by Trump and has been subjected to an array of unusual probes and arbitrary reversals of funding. That included the federal Department of Education starting a 'directed investigation' into the state's Title IX compliance immediately after the spat. In that announcement, the DOE cited a Maine high school which it said is 'continuing to allow at least one male student to compete in girls' categories.' Mills has defended that the inclusion of trans athletes in schools is protected under the state's Maine Human Rights Act. In 2021, the law was amended to protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Crainor, in the same statement on Friday, taunted Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and her previous remarks to Trump. 'Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom — be careful what you wish for,' he said. 'Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.'
Fox News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Maine gets second referral to DOJ for refusing to ban trans athletes from women's sports
FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) referred the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) to the Department of Justice Friday, as the state continues to allow trans athletes to compete in girls' sports. It is the second DOJ referral the state's educational institutions have faced in the last month over the issue, after the Department of Health and Human Services referred MDOE, the Maine Principal's Association and Greely High School on March 28. Now, the OCR informed Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster of a second DOJ referral in a letter on Friday. The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, states that earlier on Friday the Maine Attorney General's office formally notified OCR that it would not sign a resolution agreement to amend the state's gender eligibility policies to comply with Title IX, so the DOJ referral must be made. "Accordingly, OCR has determined compliance cannot be secured by informal or voluntary means," the letter read. "OCR now refers this matter to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for appropriate proceedings, to enforce all legally available remedies." OCR also says it is initiating proceedings to have further funding to the state suspended or frozen. "This letter also serves as notice to MDOE that OCR is initiating administrative proceedings to suspend, terminate, defer final approval, and/or refuse to grant or continue Federal financial assistance to MDOE," the letter read. Last Tuesday, the USDA announced a funding freeze to the state over the issue. Maine officials then filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday following the agency's decision to freeze funding to the state for its refusal to reverse its transgender athlete participation policy in schools. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Maine Attorney General's office for comment on Friday's referral. The state has been under immense federal pressure in recent months to protect female athletes from trans inclusion amid several controversial incidents involving trans athletes and an ongoing feud between President Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills. After Trump signed an executive order to ban trans athletes from women's and girls' sports on Feb. 5, Maine was one of the many state that openly defied the order. The state's divide on trans inclusion was then brought to light when Maine state representative Laurel Libby made a social media post that identified a trans athlete that won a girls' pole vault competition for Greely High School that month. The post prompted national awareness, including from Trump himself, who vowed to cut off funding the state if it continued allowing males in girls' sports during a meeting of GOP governors on Feb. 20. The very next day, Mills' office released a statement threatening legal action against Trump engaged in a verbal spat with Mills over the issue at a bipartisan meeting of Governors later that day. Just hours after that, the U.S. Department of Education announced its initial investigation into the state for potential Title IX violations. Meanwhile, Libby was censured for her social media post on the premise that she identified a minor by name and photo. However, Libby has since filed a lawsuit to have the censure overturned, arguing the trans athlete had already been identified by other media prior to her post. The lawsuit has gone to trial in a Rhode Island district court. In addition to the incident involving the pole vaulter at Greely High School, other instances have impacted multiple girls across the state who have had to compete with and share locker rooms with biological males. Maine teen Cassidy Carlisle previously told Fox News Digital about how she had to share a locker room with a trans student while in middle school, then had to compete with another trans athlete in Nordic skiing last year. "The defeat that comes with that in that moment is heartbreaking," Carlisle said. "I'm just in shock in a way. I didn't believe it. … I didn't think it was happening to me." A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it's "only fair to restrict women's sports to biological women." The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women's and girls sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
