Augusta, Maine - The State of Maine on Monday sued the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over its decision to defund school meals for children because of disagreements on transgender athletes.

Maine's lawsuit came in response to the Trump administration's decision to withhold federal funding because the state refused to comply with an executive order on transgender women in sports.

The order effectively bans transgender women from participating in women's sports based on the claim that a local law prohibiting discrimination is in breach of Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

In the lawsuit, Maine's attorney general Aaron Frey argues that the decision by the USDA to withhold funding violates the US government's responsibility to keep children safe because it effectively cuts free school meals.

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"Under the banner of keeping children safe, the Trump administration is illegally withholding grant funds that go to keeping children fed," Frey said in a statement.

"This action is necessary to remind the president that Maine will not be bullied into violating the law."

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent a letter to Maine Governor Janet Mills announcing that the USDA would freeze federal funding to Maine if it fails to comply with Trump's executive order.

"You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated," Rollins said. "Today, I am freezing Maine's federal funds."

Rollins declared that "this is only the beginning" as she launched a funding freeze, but promised that the pause would not impact federal feeding programs, declaring, "If a child was fed today, they will be fed tomorrow."

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The next day, however, the Child Nutrition Program of the Maine Department of Education could not reach its federal funding sources, leaving it unable to finance critical food services for children.

Frey argued in the lawsuit that Brooke Rollins "apparently does not understand" the legal processes required for a termination of funding, and referred to her as "a hostage taker seeking a ransom payment."

"In short, children, as well as some vulnerable adults, will go hungry," Frey stated. "Feeding children is clearly in the public interest, as is requiring defendants to comply with the law."

In February, Mills publicly sparred with President Trump over the ban on trans athletes, with the president threatening to halt federal funding to Maine and promising he would see the governor "in court."