The Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered federal district Chief Judge James Boasberg to end his year-long contempt investigation into Trump administration officials.
Last April, Boasberg, an Obama appointee, issued an order launching an investigation into holding members of the Trump administration in criminal contempt for not complying with his directive to turn flights around and return deportees bound for El Salvador.
In March 2025, Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order stopping the removal of at least 261 alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members by the Trump administration under the provision of the Alien Enemies Act.
“Several of those targeted by Trump’s order filed an emergency lawsuit in Washington, D.C., denying that they were members of Tren de Aragua and asking the court to quickly halt efforts to deport them without due process. Boasberg, in a flurry of extraordinary and urgent weekend maneuvers, ordered a stop to the deportations and said officials should keep those already in the air in U.S. custody,” Politico reported.
The Trump administration said the more than 100 deportees were already out of U.S. airspace and ultimately delivered them to El Salvador, where they were placed in prison.
Weeks later, the Supreme Court overruled Boasberg, finding that the Trump administration had the authority to remove the illegal aliens and that the judge lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place, since the deportations took place in Texas.
Nonetheless, Boasberg issued a new order in April saying that the fact that his court lacked jurisdiction over the matter did not excuse Trump administration officials from complying with his directives while the case was before him.
“One might… ask how this inquiry into compliance is able to proceed at all given that the Supreme Court vacated the [temporary restraining order] after the events in question. That Court’s later determination that the TRO suffered from a legal defect, however, does not excuse the Government’s violation,” he wrote, demanding the name or names of the Homeland Security officials who had overridden his order to keep the deportees in U.S. custody.
In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court pointed out that the name had already been given to Boasberg — then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — and that his initial written order regarding keeping the Venezuelan men in U.S. custody lacked clarity.
“These proceedings improperly threaten an open-ended, freewheeling inquiry into Executive Branch decisionmaking on matters of national security that implicate ongoing military and diplomatic initiatives,” Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote for the majority.
“These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court’s order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody. Moreover, the government has already provided the name of the responsible official, so further judicial investigation is unnecessary and therefore improper.”
In a concurring opinion, Judge Justin Walker, also a Trump appointee, took a swipe at the media coverage of the case, which communicated that Trump officials refused to comply with the judge’s supposed “turn the planes around” oral directive before he issued a written order.
“Does that mean the Government violated the district court’s oral order? No. Contrary to the predictably inaccurate commentary that plagues our better-first-than-accurate media era, the district court did not order the Government to turn the planes around, and today’s dissent does not argue otherwise,” Walker wrote.
“Rather, the district court said one option was to turn a plane around immediately and another equally acceptable option was simply ‘not [dis]embarking anyone on the plane’ when it reached El Salvador,” he recounted.
Walker then highlighted that the written order Boasberg did issue only addressed people who had “not already” been removed.
Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, as part of her 80-page dissent, wrote, “The majority has stymied the district court’s inherent and statutory powers and done so in a way that will affect not only these contempt proceedings but will also echo in future proceedings against all litigants.”
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who had argued on behalf of the deported Venezuelans, responded to Tuesday’s ruling, saying, “Our system is built on the executive branch, including the president, respecting court orders.”
“There is no longer any question that the Trump administration willfully violated the court’s order,” he stated.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche celebrated the decision, saying it should “finally end Judge Boasberg’s year-long campaign against the hardworking Department attorneys doing their jobs fighting illegal immigration.”
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