The acting head of the Social Security Administration ended a Maine program for newborns to get back at Gov. Janet Mills.
That admission, made during an interview with The New York Times, appears to conflict with acting Administrator Leland Dudek’s statement earlier this month that he didn’t intend to place an “undue burden” on new parents.
Earlier this month, the Social Security Administration informed the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention that the agency was ending two contracts with the state that allowed providers to share birth and death information electronically.
That prevented parents from registering their newborns for Social Security numbers at the hospital where they were born. Instead, they would have to go to one of eight Social Security offices to fill out paperwork to register their babies.
But the Social Security Administration reversed that decision within 48 hours, with Dudek apologizing to Mainers.
“In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent,” Dudek said. “For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated.”
Now Dudek has told The New York Times that his decision to temporarily end those contracts was meant to get back at Mills over her war of words with President Donald Trump.
“I was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president,” Dudek told The Times. “I screwed up. I’ll admit I screwed up.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins told the Bangor Daily News last week that Dudek said to her the change was a mistake and that she agreed it was not “some sort of deliberate action to cut off funding for the state of Maine.”
Asked by the BDN whether Dudek’s comments to the New York Times squared with her conversation with him, or she felt he had been dishonest by not disclosing that he was retaliating against Mills, a Collins spokesperson on Tuesday said, “Whatever the cause of this nonsensical change, [Collins] said that it made absolutely no sense to place this unnecessary and inefficient burden on new parents and grieving families and was glad that it was immediately reversed.”
The Social Security Administration’s actions came after Maine was thrust into Trump’s crosshairs in February over the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Trump signed an executive order in February to attempt to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s teams.
In response to Trump’s executive order, the Maine Principals’ Association, which runs high school sports, affirmed this month it will continue to allow trans athletes to compete in accordance with the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
That continues the association’s longstanding policy of inclusion, which allowed trans athletes to play in sports consistent with their gender identity, unless there was a safety risk.
Between 2013 and 2021, the association heard from 56 students wishing to participate during that time, only four of whom were trans girls. Only two trans girls are playing on sports teams across the state this school year.
Trump then threatened to withhold federal funds from Maine until the state complied with his order. That led to a heated exchange between him and Mills at a White House event in Washington.
Soon after the Trump administration launched several Title IX investigations into Maine, which concluded, after four days, that the state had violated federal law. Mills has blasted those investigations as having a “predetermined” conclusion, noting that no state officials were interviewed.
The Trump administration has alleged that Greely High School, the Maine Principals’ Association and the Maine Department of Education violated Title IX. Last week, the Maine Principals’ Association said the Trump administration has no authority to investigate the organization because it receives no federal funding.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which was among six federal agencies that have investigated Maine for alleged Title IX violations, last week said the University of Maine System was in compliance with the law and has been able to access federal funds. In that same announcement, the agency delivered an ultimatum from the administration to Maine.
“The choice for the rest of Maine is simple: protect equal opportunities for women, as required by law, or lose funding,” the USDA said.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened to sue Maine over any alleged Title IX violations.
The conflict between Trump and Mills has continued to play out publicly in recent days, with Trump over the weekend demanding a “full throated apology” from the governor. On Monday, Mills responded, without naming Trump, saying that if the “current occupant of the White House” cares about women and girls, he should ensure they have access to life-saving medical care.
The Trump administration also pulled funding for Maine Sea Grant, but since then, the Commerce Department has said it will renegotiate that grant. More than 30 states, Puerto Rico and Guam participate in the national Sea Grant program. No other Sea Grant program has seen its funding cut.