The U.S. Justice Department’s new federal lawsuit against Maine is just the latest action by the Trump administration targeting the state with sanctions and funding cuts over the president’s demand that transgender athletes be banned from girls sports.

But the state also is feeling the effects of unrelated administration policies, including tariffs and funding freezes and cuts to public health, medical research, farmer grants and other things.

Supporters of the president have said they’re happy to see President Donald Trump keep campaign promises, especially around immigration and government spending. A poll of Maine voters released in late March by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found 94% of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance so far, though only 42% of all voters are happy with the president’s actions.

Critics say Trump has overstepped his power, and that his policies and cuts undermine important government work and human rights protections.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has joined a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in several multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration over federal funding, education jobs, birthright citizenship and other issues.

Here are some of the things the Trump administration has done so far that have most impacted Maine.

TRANS ATHLETES AND TITLE IX

A Republican state lawmaker’s viral Facebook post about a transgender athlete’s win in a high school girls track championship in February was followed by Trump calling for the state to change its policy on transgender athletes and a heated exchange between the president and Gov. Janet Mills at a White House event.

In addition to prompting debate over Maine’s policy of allowing transgender athletes to compete, the back-and-forth between federal and state officials threatens millions of dollars in federal funding for Maine, which Trump has said he will pull if the state does not comply.

The U.S. departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Agriculture all announced investigations into Maine after the administration alleged the state had violated the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX.

The USDA halted spending to programs in the University of Maine System in March in a move it said was part of a compliance review, then said it would reinstate the funding. On March 19, the agency sent out a news release saying it was satisfied with the system’s Title IX policies and that its schools would be able to access federal funds going forward.

However, the agency then announced April 2 that it would be freezing education funds to Maine in response to alleged Title IX violations in schools.

The U.S. DHHS has referred Maine to the Department of Justice after the Maine Department of Education, Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School refused to sign a proposed agreement that would have required the state to stop allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.

Maine officials have said that doing so would be in violation of the Maine Human Rights Act, while the Trump administration has presented a new interpretation of Title IX in its argument that allowing transgender athletes to compete violates the rights of girls.

On March 31, the U.S. Department of Education issued a “final warning” to Maine, giving the state until April 11 to agree to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. If not, the department has said it would also turn its findings over to the Department of Justice for enforcement.

The Title IX dispute reached the courts on April 7, when Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to withhold federal funds because of Maine’s transgender policy. Frey’s office said funds withheld by the Trump administration are used to feed children in schools, child care centers and after-school programming, as well as disabled adults in congregate settings.

On April 11, the judge in that case granted the state’s request for an emergency temporary restraining order, blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting, pausing or otherwise interfering with federal funding to Maine.

And on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against Maine seeking an injunction to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls sports and calling for titles to be awarded to Maine girls who lost medals to trans athletes.

ENDING MAINE SEA GRANT FUNDING

The administration in early March announced it would end a four-year agreement for $4.5 million in funding for the Maine Sea Grant program overseen by the University of Maine. The program runs business development, research, marine science education and outreach related to fisheries, seafood and coastal communities.

The move came amid White House efforts to slash the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds Maine’s Sea Grant and similar programs around the country, and sent shockwaves through Maine’s fisheries industry.

The administration has since released unspent grant funding from the first year of the award so that the program can operate for the immediate future.

It has said the grant will be renegotiated, and Maine has submitted an updated proposal for second-year funding that was still pending as of early April.

SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGE, POSSIBLE CUTS

The U.S. Social Security Administration briefly suspended the practice allowing parents to register their newborns for a Social Security number at the hospital, instead requiring them to visit one of the state’s eight Social Security offices.

The administration reversed course a day later after an outcry from Maine and criticism from the state’s congressional delegation. Acting Social Security Administrator Lee Dudek has since said he specifically targeted Maine — the only state impacted by the change — because he was bothered by a tense exchange between Trump and Gov. Janet Mills over Maine’s policy on transgender athletes.

Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk have also called for cuts to Social Security staffing and its budget.

The administration has denied it has any plans to close field offices, though some in Maine are worried about the possible closure of Aroostook County’s only office after it was included on a recent list of federal properties that could be sold. The list was later removed from the internet.

HEALTH CARE CUTBACKS 

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it will lay off at least 40 subcontracted workers as a result of the federal government slashing more than $11 billion nationwide in public health initiatives funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. About $91 million in grants for the Maine CDC and Maine DHHS are expected to be impacted.

That includes $88 million in cuts at the Maine CDC and $3 million in cuts to initiatives to combat substance use disorder.

Affected services at the Maine CDC include vaccine distribution, public education, disease monitoring and response, laboratory testing, outbreak management, asthma education, rural health services and reducing inequities among vulnerable populations, such as minorities and rural residents.

On March 31, the Trump administration also announced a freeze on Title X funds, which pay for family planning services and reproductive health care, not including abortions. The freeze impacts about $2 million for clinics in Maine, which have said it will affect tens of thousands of uninsured and low-income patients’ access to birth control, STD testing and HIV and behavioral health services.

In February, the Trump administrations National Institute’s of Health announced it would cut funding for biomedical research nationwide by limiting the percentage of federal grant money that can pay for researchers’ indirect costs. Maine biomedical laboratories said their work was in peril because of the potential loss of millions of dollars to pay for equipment, staff support and others costs.

Those cuts are now on hold while the courts consider legal challenges filed by Maine and other states.

The administration has also moved to cut specific grants that are not consistent with its policy goals, including in Maine.

This month, the National Institutes of Health cut off the last $500,000 of a five-year, $1.25 million grant for rotating  medical research projects because the same grant had been used years ago to study the reasons Maine residents were reluctant to be vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CUTTING FEDERAL AGENCIES, WORKFORCE

Trump has prioritized reducing the size and scope of the federal government, something supporters have applauded as a move toward greater efficiency, while critics have warned of unintended consequences and a loss of services with cutbacks.

Efforts to reduce the federal workforce have been felt in Maine, where about 11,000 federal workers are employed.

Seven employees at the Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center in Augusta were laid off in February as part of a reduction of the national workforce. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has said it plans to cut about 80,000 positions by June, further reducing the agency’s workforce, which now totals 470,000 jobs.

Eight workers at Acadia National Park were also laid off in February, representing a 10% reduction of year-round staff for one of the state’s busiest tourist destinations.

And the city of Portland lost a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker who was embedded in the Public Health Division and who worked on emergency preparedness and public outreach.

On March 31, Trump placed the entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services on leave for at least 90 days, effectively shutting down the agency and cutting off funding for libraries nationwide, raising fears about the ability to continue federally supported services for libraries around the state.

In response, the Maine State Library laid off 13 staff members, nearly one-third of its staff, and announced that it would close for two weeks to restructure its operations after the Trump administration indefinitely suspended certain federal funds.

The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been challenged in court, upended one Maine business. Planson International in New Gloucester said its revenue could be cut in half this year if USAID’s dismantling is allowed to stand.

And a Maine nonprofit, Hallowell-based MCD Global Health, said it stands to lose a multimillion-dollar federal grant that helps combat malaria in African countries because of the US AID shutdown.

TARIFFS ON CARS AND OTHER GOODS

Trump has announced sweeping plans for tariffs, including a minimum 10% tax on all foreign goods and steeper penalties for countries the administration says have treated the U.S. unfairly. A 25% tariff on all imported cars and car parts took effect on April 3.

The president has promised that factory jobs will return to the United States as a result of the taxes, but his policies risk causing a sudden economic slowdown as consumers and businesses could face sharp price hikes on autos, clothes and other goods.

Auto dealerships in Maine said there will be a one- or two-month delay until the impacts are felt, but that by June consumers are likely to see higher costs for both new and used vehicles, as the market for used cars will become more competitive.

Trump’s tariffs could also impact Maine’s relationship with Canada, its largest trading partner and the source of 80% of the state’s gasoline and heating fuel.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has criticized the tariffs on Canadian goods, saying they would raise the prices Mainers pay for food, gas and fuel, and threaten a wide range of industries that employ hundreds of Mainers, including paper mills, forest products, the lobster industry and farming. About $900 billion worth of goods cross the U.S.-Canadian border every year.

Copy the Story Link