In a dramatic and escalating standoff between the Trump administration and the state of Maine, the U.S. Interior Department has suspended all federal grant funding to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), citing illegal sex-based hiring quotas that violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
At the heart of the controversy is a mandate from MDIFW requiring that 50% of all hiring panels consist of women—a policy the Trump administration says flagrantly violates Title IX, the federal statute that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any program receiving federal financial assistance.
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
The decision was announced in a sternly worded letter from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Paul Souza to MDIFW Commissioner Judy Camuso. Dated Thursday, the letter states that all federal funds will be cut off to the department by May 15 unless the agency reverses course.
Souza’s message was unequivocal: “MDIFW is not in compliance with 20 U.S.C. § 1681… [and] is therefore also out of compliance with 2 C.F.R. Part 200.” Though the agency is being given a chance to rectify its policy, the signal is clear—ideological hiring quotas won’t fly under current federal oversight.
According to the state’s own website, every hiring panel at MDIFW must be composed of 50% women, and if there’s an odd number, “organizers shall make every effort to include more women.” It’s a policy that may have been well-intentioned in seeking representation but has now ignited a federal firestorm.
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
Camuso, the first woman to hold her post as MDIFW commissioner, has also drawn scrutiny for her compensation. As investigative journalist Steve Robinson of The Maine Wire pointed out, Camuso more than doubled her salary since 2018—from $102,352.88 to $207,807.84—while championing the very policies that have drawn the ire of federal regulators.
This funding freeze doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s part of a broader legal and cultural battle brewing between Trump officials and Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills. Back in February, Mills refused to enforce a Trump executive order aimed at barring biological males from competing in girls’ sports—a move that has already resulted in a lawsuit from the federal government, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The lawsuit, obtained by The Daily Wire, asserts that the Maine Department of Education is “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law,” and demands that girls who lost opportunities and awards to biological males be granted rightful recognition and restitution.
