“It makes no specific allegations, nor is UMaine aware of any previous concerns or investigation into its compliance,” a university spokesperson said in a statement shared with NOTUS about the stop work orders.

All three stop work orders said the university violated “national policy assurances” — a set of rules that recipients must agree to follow in order to receive federal funding. These rules include Title IX, the same law the Department of Justice referenced in its lawsuit challenging Maine’s policies on transgender girls in sports.

This came as President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) to abide by his executive order on transgender athletes.

The public feud between Mills and Trump began in February when Trump directly called Mills and Maine out at a governor’s luncheon for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports. Trump pulled federal funding from the state as a result of Mills and state officials disobeying his executive orders. 

“Well, we are the federal law. You better do it. You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump said in February.

“We’ll see you in court,” Mills shot back.

The Education Department referred the investigation into Maine to the DOJ after the state’s Education Department failed to resolve Title IX violations brought forward in a noncompliance letter.

The Department of Agriculture previously pulled funding from the University of Maine, citing Title IX violations. However, funding was restored when the USDA ruled that the university did not violate the rules. 

Meanwhile, the president has actively worked to squash active and proposed offshore wind projects. He signed an executive order on his first day in office temporarily suspending new offshore wind leasing. Trump also ordered a halt to construction on an active offshore wind project off the New York coast, even though it had already obtained federal permits.

Last August, Maine reached an agreement with the Biden administration to lease federal waters for research on a floating offshore project. The Bureau of Ocean Energy under the Trump administration has not made any plans to break or change the lease. However, the company that intended to sell the energy from the turbines suspended negotiations with Maine amid Trump’s executive orders.

The University of Maine has about $4.4 million unspent in the $12.5 million grant awarded by ARPA-E last July. The university had contracted a construction company to build the tower and blades on the concrete platform over the next six weeks, but that project is now on hold indefinitely.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO KEY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS IF TRUMP SHUTS IT DOWN

“The university is assessing the federal notice, which states that the suspension period may not exceed 90 calendar days, and the next steps for the project and related Maine contracts and jobs. It will provide additional public comment when its analysis is complete,” a university spokesperson said to NOTUS.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the University of Maine and the Energy Department.