Attorney General Aaron M. Frey has initiated legal action against the Trump Administration, filing a complaint in federal court in Maine. The lawsuit is directed at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Brooke Rollins, the Secretary of Agriculture, over withholding key funding utilized in feeding children in schools, childcare facilities, after-school programs, and disabled adults in communal settings.
The issue arises from a letter the State received on April 2nd from Secretary Rollins, which cited alleged Title IX educational programming violations as the reason for the funding freeze. Rollins warned, “This is only the beginning.” Despite assurances in her letter that programs feeding children would remain unaffected, the Maine Department of Education's Child Nutrition Program encountered barriers in accessing essential federal funds on April 3, impacting its ability to feed children and vulnerable adults.
“Under the banner of keeping children safe, the Trump Administration is illegally withholding grant funds that go to keeping children fed,” said Attorney General Frey. “This is just another example where no law or consequence appears to restrain the administration as it seeks capitulation to its lawlessness. The President and his cabinet secretaries do not make the law and they are not above the law, and this action is necessary to remind the President that Maine will not be bullied into violating the law.”
Attorney General Frey claims that freezing the funds violated legal procedures, bypassing the required protocols to change Congressionally appropriated funds, including USDA's regulations that necessitate a hearing and a formal recorded decision before terminating funds. Consequently, Frey is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the USDA from withholding funds until the Court resolves the matter.
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