The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday a pause and an ongoing review of federal funding to Maine after the state refused to provide equal opportunities to women and girls in educational programs. 

The state has refused to comply with President Donald Trump's February executive order to ban trans athletes from girls and women's sports, prompting immense federal pressure. Trump initially vowed to cut federal funding to the state if it refused to comply with the order during a Feb. 20 speech. 

Now, Trump has made good on that promise.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM 

USDA secretary Brooks Rollins said the state must agree to protect female athletes from trans inclusion before funding is restored. 

"In order to continue to receive taxpayer dollars from USDA, the state of Maine must demonstrate compliance with Title IX which protects female student athletes from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males," Rollins wrote in a letter to the state. 

"In addition, USDA has launched a full review of grants awarded by the Biden Administration to the Maine Department of Education. Many of these grants appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump Administration. USDA will not stand for the Biden Administration’s bloated bureaucracy and will instead focus on a Department that is farmer-first and without a leftist social agenda."

Maine GOP state Rep. Laurel Libby was one of the key figures in bringing attention to the state's trans inclusion issue, when she made a social media post identifying a transgender track and field athlete at Greely High School had taken first place at a Maine girls pole vault competition after competing as a boy just one year earlier.

Libby's revelation of the trans athlete ignited national conversation and coverage of the state's policy on trans inclusion. Libby was censured by the Maine House Democrat majority for her post on the premise that she identified a minor, but she has since filed a lawsuit to have the censure lifted. 

MAINE GIRL INVOLVED IN TRANS ATHLETE BATTLE REVEALS HOW STATE'S POLICIES HURT HER CHILDHOOD AND SPORTS CAREER

"Governor Janet Mills and Maine Democrats have chosen to dig their heels in and embrace radical left-wing ideology over the safety and rights of Maine women and girls. Despite repeated warnings from President Trump, Maine Democrats continued to defy federal law, forcing Maine girls to unfairly compete against biological males," Libby told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

"As a result, Maine's Democrat majority has poised Maine students to lose hundreds of millions in federal funding, starting with our USDA funding, instead of championing Maine girls by adhering to federal law. I continue to stand firmly with Maine girls and President Trump in the pursuit of sanity and fairness. I implore Maine Democrats to abandon this incredibly harmful and radical gender ideology for the sake of our students."

More potential sanctions could be coming to the state in the next week. 

The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) on Monday advising a final deadline of April 11 to address the issue or risk a second referral to the Department of Justice. The Department of Health and Human Services already referred Maine to the DOJ last week. 

Wednesday's announcement is not the first funding freeze USDA announced regarding Maine. 

The department paused funding to the University of Maine System (UMS), a network of eight public universities in the state, on March 11 while it conducted a review of the system's compliance with Title IX. 

Funding was restored to UMS just days later and the USDA announced the system was in full compliance. 

But the major issue involving trans athlete inclusion in Maine is at the high school level. In addition to the incident involving the pole vaulter at Greely High School, other instances have impacted multiple girls across the state who have had to compete with and share locker rooms with biological males. 

Maine teen Cassidy Carlisle previously told Fox News Digital about how she had to share a locker room with a trans student while in middle school, then had to compete with another trans athlete in Nordic skiing last year. 

"The defeat that comes with that in that moment is heartbreaking," Carlisle said. "I'm just in shock in a way. I didn't believe it. … I didn't think it was happening to me."

"I stayed silent for a while," Carlisle said. "It's very hard to speak up if you don't have a platform to do it on. … Backlash is a huge thing. I'm a high school student. No high school student wants to be hurt or yelled at or said mean comments by people. And the reality of it, with the state that I live in, that could very much happen." 

A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it’s "only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women."

The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of nations during a White House event he dubbed 'Liberation Day.' Here are some key moments.

For the past few years, the top of the Google Discover feed has shown widget-esque cards with glanceable information, and “your space” is now available on more devices. 

The full extent of the U.S. government’s impeding tariffs were revealed by the Trump administration today in a press conference. The hefty tariffs threaten economic trade on a massive scale with implications on almost all big US companies, including Apple.

The Apple supply chain relies on manufacturing and assembly of its devices in countries like China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. All of these regions are now facing huge tariffs, which ultimately increases the cost of production and undermines Apple’s margins and potential profitability.