President Donald Trump has halted funding for research and programs at the University of Maine System following the state’s governor’s defiance of his executive order slashing funding for states that allow men to compete in women’s sports.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills publicly opposed the Feb. 5 executive order protecting women’s sports from transgender intrusion. Mills yelled “See you in court” at the president during a Feb. 21 National Governors Association event at the White House after Trump called her out for not complying with the executive order.
“You better comply, you better comply, because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump vowed.
That same day, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced a review of the Maine Department of Education, including the University of Maine System, “based on information that Maine intends to defy this executive order” and “will continue to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.”
The University of Maine System, a network of eight public colleges in the state, received an email March 11 revealing that Trump was making good on the threat.
The Department of Agriculture’s chief financial officer ordered all payments to be paused while the department “evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions” related to possible violations at the school.
“This pause is temporary in nature while USDA evaluates if it should take any follow-on actions related to prospective Title VI or Title IX violations,” the email to the university system says. “Please take any necessary actions to effectuate this direction from leadership. This pause will remain in effect until further notice.”
An online recall petition calling for the removal of Mills from office has gathered nearly 30,000 signatures since it was posted last week.
Maine’s fight against women sports has a prominent dissenter from within, state Rep. Laurel Libby.
Libby filed a federal lawsuit against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau for censuring her after she sounded the alarm on a biological male student beating his female competitors at the Maine State Class B Championship in pole vault for girls.
She is now suing to get her speaking privileges back in the state House of Representatives.
“Biological males have no place in girls sports,” Libby said in a statement. “Our girls have every right, under federal law, to fair competition in sports. We will not let them be erased by the Democrat majority advancing a woke progressive agenda.”
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
