The Trump administration is suspending all U.S. Interior Department grants to Maine, due to discriminatory sex-based quotas from the state’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The move follows the Trump administration’s decision to freeze other federal dollars in the state over investigations into Democrat Gov. Janet Mills’ refusal to protect girls’ sports, in apparent violation of Title IX rules.
“The MDIFW’s policy discriminates in the composition of hiring panels by requiring a quota based on sex,” a letter from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Paul Souza to MDIFW Commissioner Judy Camuso said, as first reported by The Maine Wire.
The letter, dated Thursday, told Camuso that all federal grant funding to MDIFW will stop by May 15.
“Accordingly, MDIFW is not in compliance with 20 U.S.C. § 1681 which prohibits discrimination based on sex and is therefore also out of compliance with 2 C.F.R. Part 200,” Souza wrote. “The Department has therefore given this notice that MDIFW is out of compliance with applicable law. However, MDIFW has an opportunity to comply with applicable Federal law before further action is taken.”
The MDIFW policy in question forces hiring panels in the department to have half of its members be women.
“All hiring panels assembled for the review and selection of IFW employees will be comprised of 50% women,” the state’s website reads. “In the event there is an uneven number of panelists, organizers shall make every effort to include more women.”
The Trump Admin has informed Maine’s wildlife commissioner that it will suspend all Interior Dept. grants next week unless the state ends a sex-based quota policy for hiring.
Here’s the policy: pic.twitter.com/zkG3pYdSqO
— Steve Robinson (@BigSteve207) May 9, 2025
Maine-based investigative reporter and The Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson noted that Camuso is the first female commissioner of the agency, and more than doubled her salary since 2018 while working for the Maine government.
“Judy Camuso, the first female commissioner of DIFW, went from making $102,352.88/year as Director of the Bureau of Wildlife in 2018 to $207,807.84/year as DIFW Commissioner, according to state payroll records,” Robinson said.
Judy Camuso, the first female commissioner of DIFW, went from making $102,352.88/year as Director of the Bureau of Wildlife in 2018 to $207,807.84/year as DIFW Commissioner, according to state payroll records.
— Steve Robinson (@BigSteve207) May 9, 2025
Back in February, Gov. Mills got into a public spat with President Trump when she refused to comply with the president’s order barring males from girls’ sports, arguing that she was following state law. The battle was sparked over males in the state of Maine taking away trophies and opportunities from young women, as reported by The Daily Wire.
The state has since had federal dollars frozen and, last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a civil lawsuit against Maine over the trans sports policies.
A copy of the lawsuit, which was obtained by Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan, says the United States is suing Maine over its Department of Education “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designed exclusively for girls.”
The suit is seeking to get Maine to stop its noncompliance with federal law and also seeks to grant females who were passed over by males their appropriate awards.
Related: ‘F*** Fascism’: Maine Teacher Calls For Murder Of Trump Supporters, Top Officials In Unhinged Rants
