Following her confrontation with President Trump during a recent White House gathering, Janet Mills, the Democratic governor of Maine, has emerged as an emblematic figure for her party while simultaneously becoming a political target; her state is now under scrutiny from a federal investigation led by the Department of Education.

At 77, Mills firmly informed Trump on Friday that she refused to comply with his executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. “See you in court,” she stated while seated among a group of governors from both political parties in the White House State Dining Room. Following her remarks, the U.S. Department of Education notified state officials that Maine’s education department had become the subject of a “directed investigation.”

Craig Trainor, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division, asserted that the Trump administration would take every measure to ensure that taxpayers would not support “blatant civil rights violators.” He indicated that Maine could face the loss of federal funding if it did not adhere to his directive.

Mills remained resolute in her stance.

“Let there be no misunderstanding: This issue extends beyond athletic competition; it concerns whether a president can impose his will without respecting the rule of law,” the governor declared in a statement regarding the escalating dispute. “I believe he cannot.”

This confrontation has propelled Mills, a longstanding figure in Maine’s political landscape, into the national spotlight. Her opposition to the hardline immigration and anti-abortion policies of the Trump administration contributed to her historic election as the state’s first female governor.

Over her nearly fifty years in politics, Mills has built a reputation based on her commitment to supporting law enforcement and her background as a criminal prosecutor.