Trump administration cannot freeze Maine school lunch funds over transgender athlete policy, judge rules

April 11 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration cannot cut off Maine's federal school lunch funding over the state's refusal to ban transgender women from sports, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr. did not weigh in on the dispute over Maine's transgender athlete policies but ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not follow proper legal procedures under a law called the Administrative Procedure Act when it froze grant money the state uses for nutrition programs.

USDA representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, whose office filed a lawsuit seeking to block the freeze, said in a statement that the ruling by the judge in Portland, Maine, confirms that the Trump administration did not follow the law when it "cut program funds that go to feed school children and vulnerable adults."

The dispute stems from Trump's executive order banning transgender women from participating in women's sports at schools that receive federal funding.

The USDA notified Maine on April 2 that it was freezing certain federal funds because it believed the state was violating Title IX legal prohibitions against sex discrimination.

The funds were used by Maine to administer federal programs designed to fight hunger by reimbursing schools, childcare centers and after-school programs for providing free or reduced-price meals to children.

The USDA's decision followed a February 21 meeting with governors in which the Republican president threatened to withhold funds from Maine if it did not comply with his transgender athletes order.

Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, responded to Trump: "We're going to follow the law, sir. We'll see you in court."