Portland Press Herald
U.S. government runs out of money to pay Maine defense lawyers appointed in federal cases
The U.S. Department of Education on Friday agreed to release the remaining portion of $28 million in funding to Maine. The Trump administration had frozen more than $6 billion in education funding nationally. Last week, the administration agreed to release $1 billion of that funding, including $6.5 million earmarked for Maine.
Shelters and mental health advocacy groups in Maine are raising alarms about an executive order signed Thursday by President Donald Trump that makes it easier for cities to forcibly remove and involuntarily hospitalize homeless people. The order seeks to shift federal funds and policies away from harm reduction and toward civil commitment. Local advocates compared it to "signing a death warrant."