Donald Trump is in an epic battle of words and, now, in the courts with Maine Gov. Janet Mills. It was a thing of beauty at the governor’s meeting at the White House on Friday, when the president called Mills out to her face for her defiance of his executive order banning boys from competing in girls sports.
“You better comply! Because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump told Mills – as she vowed instead to see him in court.
Enforcing Executive Orders
It was perfectly handled by Trump because Mills is a far lefty on this issue, and he is absolutely right. She is not in step with the people of her state. A May 2023 Gallup survey of U.S. adults found that nearly 70 percent of respondents said trans athletes should only compete on teams that correspond with their biological sex, and Trump’s executive order had overwhelming support.
To the president’s point about this being an easy court battle for him to win, an executive order does have the force of federal law. Under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law trumps state law when they conflict. State law reigns if there is no federal law on the books. But if there is a federal law that conflicts with a state law, federal law supersedes the state legislation. Donald Trump is absolutely right in his constitutional interpretation there, and an executive order has the full force and effect of law.
The only way of getting out of an executive order is if you can prove that the president did not have the authority to enact it in the first place; that he was just acting willy nilly and there is nothing in the Constitution that gave him the power to issue such an order. That is not going to be the case here.
Title IX is a legitimate, duly enacted statute that the executive branch and the Department of Education have been interpreting since it was passed in 1972. The Biden administration changed Title IX to allow boys to compete. That is no longer of any valid force or effect. What is in effect right now is a Title IX that protects biological girls in sport. The Department of Education – as overseen by the Trump administration – has interpreted Title IX to say boys may not play.
Legal Precedent
Legally, Trump is 100 percent in the right to say, ‘You will not let boys play because Title IX doesn’t allow it.’ It doesn’t matter what Maine’s state civil rights law says. We already saw a very similar battle to this play out before the U.S. Supreme Court in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Colorado graphic designer Lorie Smith who did not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. She sued over the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) that prohibits businesses that provide sales or services to the public from denying services to someone based on their identity. Smith believed the law infringed on her First Amendment rights by forcing her to promote messages that violate her faith. The Supreme Court agreed with her and ruled that the Constitution will trump this particular protection under state law.
That is what is going to happen in Maine. Mills knows that, but she is looking to make herself a star. And she is succeeding to some degree because, if you Google her name today, you will see about two dozen fawning profiles on ‘the woman who stood up to Trump.’ She wants to go down swinging.
The Controversy
The reason I believe this was on Trump’s mind is because a biological boy helped his school win first place in a Maine pole vaulting competition earlier this month. The ‘trans’ athlete cleared 10 feet, 6 inches in the Class B girls’ pole vaulting championship, finishing more than six inches ahead of the next-best competitor and helping the Greely High School track and field team clinch the championship by one point.
The male student, who now goes by the name Katie, competed two years ago in the boys category and tied for fifth place. Now that he is a so-called ‘girl,’ there he is atop the leaderboard in the number one spot. He towers over the female athletes both in the pole vault and on the podiums where they accept their medals.
It is ridiculous, and this is what Janet Mills is standing up for. She is standing up for Katie, who is actually a boy. She doesn’t give two sh-ts about the women who worked their whole school careers to try to get as high as they could in pole vault. She doesn’t give two sh-ts about that second-place finisher would have had gold had it not been for her defiance of the Trump executive order.
What’s at Stake
She made a fool of herself, and it may be at the expense of the students in her state. The Trump Department of Education has notified Mills that it has launched a Title IX investigation into the state’s DOE and a school district for allegedly ignoring the EO.
“Let me be clear,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. “If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX. If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice. OCR will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators.”
The Portland Press Herald reported Maine K through 12 schools received $250 million in federal funding this school year. Maine is especially dependent on the feds for its education money, and Mills is going to lose it unless she gets in the line.
If Janet Mills loses $250 million in federal funding, she will be fired by the residents of Maine. When she realizes that money is on the line and she will lose her job, she will bend the knee. I don’t care whether a court has to tell her or she just learns the hard way when she loses her money – I can’t wait to watch her bend it.
She is definitely going to get sued, she is going to lose, and she will serve as a lesson for the others who are dangerously flirting with this.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,012 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.