Court rules USDA must release federal dollars appropriated for Maine food programs

File photo A federal judge has ruled that the USDA cannot restrict funding for Maine food programs.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been ordered to release funds it has withheld as part of its effort to punish Maine for alleged Title IX violations. The funding cuts have affected food assistance to schools and child care facilities as well as programs for disabled adults.

The state was to have received a total of $1.8 million in food program funding this year. An estimated $917,000 has become inaccessible. An additional $3 million in summer meal program funding due later this year is also expected to be affected.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock Jr. issued a temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey on April 7.

Frey asserted that “the Trump Administration has engaged in an unlawful campaign of coercion by threatening to terminate Maine’s federal funding for Maine’s refusal to comply with the President’s [executive order] relating to the participation of transgender athletes in school sports.”

Woodcock wrote, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins are barred from freezing, terminating, or otherwise interfering with the state of Maine’s future federal funding for alleged violations of Title IX without complying with the legally required procedure.”

Reacting to Judge Woodcock’s ruling, Frey responded, “This temporary restraining order confirms the Trump Administration did not follow the rule of law when it cut program funds that go to feed school children and vulnerable adults ... This order preserves Maine’s access to certain congressionally appropriated funds by prohibiting an unlawful freeze by the administration. No one in our constitutional republic is above the law and we will continue to fight to hold this administration to account.”