Maine's governor has doubled down on her state's transgender policies, in a statement released on Sunday filled with inflammatory rhetoric about the Trump administration seeking to violate the rule of law.
As I wrote in a piece on Saturday, after Maine Democrat Governor Janet Mills and the president got into something of a tiff during a White House event on Friday evening, in which the governor threatened to take the issue of her state's transgender policies to court, Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Saturday that the administration had initiated a review of the University of Maine's compliance of Title IX, in light of Pres. Trump signing an executive order on men in women's sports.
Read More: Maine Gov.-Trump Tussle Over Women's Sports EO Sparks 'Review' of University's Title IX Compliance
Mills' statement calls out Team Trump's move as "politically-directed," while confirming that her office and Maine's attorney general are huddling about filing suit against the Trump administration:
I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined. My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law.
In another bit, Gov. Mills is clearly playing to the liberal crowd, with fear-mongering over Trump's objectives, and about more "investigations" heading for other states, among other warnings:
But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.
Things got truly grotesque at one point, with a rehash of the Left's failed tactics during the 2024 presidential election:
But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.
The part where she tips her hand is when she calls the government's compliance review unconstitutional:
No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.
You can read her full statement here.
Here's the problem Gov. Mills is up against: The Supreme Court, as part of the judiciary, is in the only branch of government that gets to decide that what hews to the Constitution and what doesn't, and if the state does file suit, that's likely where it will end up.
Read More: NEW: Poll Reveals Amazing Shift in Public Opinion About Direction of the Country Since Inauguration
The Democrats clearly need to be reminded of another fact: this is what the American people voted for, when they went to the polls in November and hired Republicans to control the House, the Senate, and the White House. And polls since the inauguration have shown that public opinion has shifted in a positive way toward Pres. Trump's actions in office. The executive branch of one blue state--no matter how strenuously they argue about it--doesn't supersede millions of American voters.