Justice Dept. pulls 'nonessential' funds from Maine prison system over trans inmate housed with women

The U.S. Department of Justice has pulled “nonessential funding” from the Maine Department of Corrections because a transgender woman is being housed in a women’s prison, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox & Friends Tuesday.

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Bondi did not state an amount, but a graphic on the Fox News Channel show implied it was more than $1.5 million.

She referred to the inmate as a man and said the prisoner has been convicted of a double murder.

“They were letting him be housed in a female prison,” she said. “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.”

Actually, transgender women are at risk of harassment and violence when housed in men’s prisons.

Maine TV station WCSH identified the woman in question, but The Advocate is not stating her name in order to protect her privacy.

The Maine Department of Corrections released a statement saying it has received notice that federal funding is ending for three programs. “The Department is evaluating the impacts to services from these funding terminations,” the statement continued. “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.”

The end to certain funding is in keeping with Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, Bondi said. “We were right to do that,” she said on Fox & Friends. “President Trump has the right to determine where the money goes, where federal money goes.” Under the U.S. Constitution, however, Congress has control over funding, while the president can propose budgets and sign or veto bills relating to them. And the order on keeping trans women out of women's prisons is being contested in court.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has paused funding to certain programs in Maine because the state allows trans girls and women to compete in female sports. Trump and Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, exchanged heated words over trans athletes at a National Governors Association meeting at the White House in February.

Maine Attorney General Aaron M. Frey filed a lawsuit Monday seeking a temporary restraining order to lift the pause, saying the federal government is withholding funds used to feed school children and disabled adults, contrary to promises from the USDA and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.