USDA halts millions in funding for University of Maine System

The mall on the Orono campus at University of Maine in July 2023. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily halted spending to all of the programs it funds at University of Maine System schools, a system spokesperson announced Tuesday morning.

The university system has $56.1 million in active USDA grants, most of which support the flagship campus in Orono and agriculture programs and research, according to spokesperson Samantha Warren.

Of that, about $32.4 million was expected to be paid out in the coming months and years, Warren said. The university system is still assessing possible financial impacts and next steps.

The federal agriculture department, meanwhile, said it has given the University of Maine System more than $100 million in recent years.

The USDA told its employees Monday to “temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other releases of funding” to the University of Maine System while the department evaluates whether it should “take any follow-on actions related to prospective Title VI or Title IX violations,” according to a letter obtained by the Portland Press Herald.

The agency began investigating Maine’s university system for gender-related civil rights violations the day after President Donald Trump and Gov. Janet Mills got into a public confrontation over the state’s refusal to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls sports. The U.S. Department of Education said it would also be cracking down on discrimination against white students, under Title VI.

Dannel Malloy, the system chancellor, said in an interview that he isn’t aware of any “mistakes” the university system has made.

“It’s disappointing. The letter that we got didn’t give a reason,” Malloy said in an interview after a speech to the Legislature that did not acknowledge the USDA decision. “They’re looking into things. We’ve complied. We’ve answered questions.”

Malloy said he is especially concerned about “the widespread impact” the funding freeze will have on 4-H and its youth.

“We’re going to hurt kids because somebody didn’t like what somebody else said,” Malloy said. “Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

Dannel Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System, speaks during the State of Higher Education address before a joint convention of the Maine Senate and Maine House of Representatives on Tuesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Mills’ spokesperson called the decision a “part of pattern of recent federal actions that are creating uncertainty and instability in Maine, and the country,” according to an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon.

4-H PROGRAMS AT RISK

The USDA pays for programs and research across the university system — including sustainable agricultural and manufacturing processes, education and outreach for farmers and 4-H — through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, which runs youth programming for educational and leadership development related to agriculture. The USDA funds 42% of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s budget, Warren said.

UMaine’s Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab, part of the extension, announced Tuesday that its operations would be slowed by the loss of five lab technicians whose positions were funded by USDA grants.

If the funding remains frozen, there are concerns that the impacts will extend into Maine’s fields and affect the season’s yield. USDA funding allows the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine to conduct research with the university system that helps farmers prevent disease from spreading, for instance.

“This industry is a vital part of Maine’s identity,” said Eric Venturini, executive director of the commission. “And the wild blueberry industry relies heavily on the research and extension work done at the University of Maine.”

He added that the USDA funding covers the salaries for over 80 wild blueberry researchers who work with the commission and farms across the state.

The cut in funding could also include a $10 million grant to study using low-value wood as jet fuel and fish food, and a $70 million program for sustainable agriculture projects.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, called the freeze “abrupt” and said it would have “dramatic impacts” on the whole state. His office said he has spoken with University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy to figure out “next steps.”

The university system responded to questions from the USDA last month about whether transgender women compete in women’s intercollegiate sports, Warren said. The university system says it complies with NCAA policy that was recently adjusted to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, left, speaks to President Donald Trump as Trump delivered remarks during a governors’ working session in the State Dining Room at the White House in February. Pool photos via AP

Trump threatened to cut Maine’s federal funding on Feb. 21, when Mills pushed back during a White House event with a bipartisan group of governors.

“You’d better do it. You’d better do it, because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump said to Mills during the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C.

Mills and the Maine Principals’ Association have publicly stated that they will not comply with Trump’s executive order banning transgender female athletes from women’s sports because it would violate state law.

Four days after the clash, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared Maine to be in violation of Title IX, an outcome Mills has suggested was predetermined.

The Trump administration took its first step to claw back funding for Maine on March 1, when NOAA announced it would rescind $4.5 million for one of the state’s prominent fisheries organizations — a move the administration has since stepped back on.

“President Trump has made it abundantly clear: taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars will not support institutions that discriminate against women,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said. “USDA is committed to upholding the president’s executive order, meaning any institution that chooses to disregard it can count on losing future funding.”

‘VINDICTIVE’

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, called the move “vindictive” and criticized the department for initiating the freeze without sharing any findings, offering an opportunity for a hearing, or giving information about the timeline for recourse.

“Let’s be clear about what this latest funding freeze will do: It will hurt farmers and rural Mainers, it will halt critically needed research innovation, and it will slash educational opportunities for students throughout Maine,” Pingree said in an emailed statement. “Once again, it appears as though this administration is targeting our state for retribution — all because our elected officials are standing up for the rule of law.”

The notice from the USDA also halted funding for Columbia University, which is being targeted by funding cuts because the Trump administration said it has failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment amid pro-Palestine protests.

The USDA declined to comment on the decision, instead referencing the Feb. 22 announcement on the investigation into the University of Maine System.

Staff Writer Randy Billings contributed to this report.

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