By Emily Allen
Portland Press Herald, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. attorney general announced Tuesday morning on national TV that she is withholding money to Maine prisons after learning about a transgender woman living in a women’s unit.
Pam Bondi told “Fox & Friends” that the Department of Justice “pulled all nonessential funding ... because they were allowing a man in a woman’s prison.” She did not specify how much funding was put on hold, but a Fox News graphic suggested it was more than $1.5 million.
“We will protect women throughout this country”: @AGPamBondi reveals the administration cut all non-essential funding for Maine’s Department of Corrections after allowing a man in a women’s prison. pic.twitter.com/IeqVfjbv6a
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) April 8, 2025
The Maine Department of Corrections was notified Monday that the Department of Justice was terminating any remaining balances from three grants, but did not specify what those unspent balances are. The DOJ’s letter to the state also didn’t mention transgender prisoners.
Instead, the department wrote that it is freezing funds earmarked for substance use treatment, probation and parental programs, saying that its priorities have changed to “more directly supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault.”
Though it’s not clear how much grant money was allocated to the Maine Department of Corrections, the three eliminated grants included those to:
— Reduce “recidivism and violent crime” with resources to improve probation and parole practices.
— Develop programs centered around incarcerated parents with children under 18, to reduce their likelihood of “future involvement in the juvenile justice system.”
— Implement substance use treatment programming in correctional facilities to help people remain in treatment.
These grants “no longer effectuate” the DOJ’s priorities, the letter read.
Department of Corrections spokesperson Sam Prawer said state officials are still evaluating the impact of these funding cuts. He did not respond to follow-up questions about how much funding would be eliminated or if the state plans to appeal the decision, which the letter said it can do within 30 days.
“While the department is aware of related public statements by the United States Attorney General, the notice is the only communication that has been received by the department,” Prawer said in an emailed statement.
The Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, which seeks better conditions for incarcerated people, was disappointed by Bondi’s announcement.
“If the federal government truly cares about women ... all women, they would not withdraw funding for essential programs that lead to public safety in our communities,” spokesperson Jan Collins said. “I am confident that the MDOC evaluates all trans individuals to ascertain if they are safe to house in the prison of their identified gender. If the individual is considered a safety risk, they are not moved.”
During her Fox News appearance, Bondi did not name the prisoner in question, but she described a case similar to that of a transgender woman who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2018 for killing her parents in Winthrop. She was 17 at the time of the killings, but her case was moved to adult court.
Bondi told the Fox reporter that President Donald Trump “has the right to determine where money goes.”
“They’re not abiding by what President Trump said,” Bondi said of Maine. “No longer. We will pull your funding. We will protect women in prison, we will protect women in sports, we will protect women throughout this country. No more of that.”
Targeting Maine
This is the most recent instance of the Trump administration threatening to freeze funds specifically to Maine, targeting the state’s human rights laws for transgender Mainers.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey filed a lawsuit on Monday against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for withholding money used to support school lunch programs, after the White House alleged that Maine’s policies over transgender athletes violates Title IX. Frey and Gov. Janet Mills have said Maine’s policies are in line with state and federal law.
Under Maine’s decade-old policy for transgender prisoners, which was updated in 2023, the state evaluates how to house people on a case-by-case basis when they identify as a gender other than what they were assigned at birth.
Such a policy isn’t unique to Maine. Similar sets of rules are in effect in other states, many of which have been compiled online by the Transgender Law Center. Several have been spurred by legal action.
In Minnesota, the state prison system agreed in early 2023 to update its housing and medical policies to be more inclusive of transgender prisoners as part of a settlement with a transgender woman.
Colorado agreed in a consent decree last year to enact new policies for housing and providing medical care to transgender women in their prisons.
Transgender prisoners in Maine are asked — but not required — to take a questionnaire to help prison staff determine an appropriate housing situation, among other considerations. A team of prison medical professionals and leaders then evaluates the questionnaire, the prisoner’s health records and other details to determine what the safest housing situation is for both them and others.
The policy also calls on prison health staff to provide gender-affirming care when deemed necessary, including continued access to hormonal medication unless the prison’s medical staff objects. The policy bars staff from compelling any prisoner to reveal their gender identity and prevents overall discrimination or harassment.
“It is the policy of the Maine Department of Corrections to provide a safe, supportive, and discrimination-free environment that is affirming of every adult resident’s gender identity, including transgender, gender nonbinary, and intersex residents,” the policy states.
The federal Bureau of Prisons held a similar policy prior to Trump retaking office.
The Trump administration recently started moving transgender women to men’s facilities after signing a sprawling executive order that also prevents federal funds from covering gender-affirming care in the Bureau of Prisons.
In March, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered Trump to return two transgender women to a women’s prison. At least 15 transgender women were supposed to be returned by similar emergency orders.
This story includes material from The Associated Press.
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