A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday stepped in to shut down Chief Judge James Boasberg’s escalating criminal contempt investigation into former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and other high-ranking Executive Branch officials.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a writ of mandamus, a rare and powerful legal tool, to terminate proceedings that the court described as an “unwarranted impairment” of the Executive Branch’s constitutional duties.
The case stems from the March 2025 removal of alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang, under the Alien Enemies Act.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Neomi Rao characterized the district court’s inquiry as an “antagonistic jurisdiction” that sought to probe high-level deliberations regarding national security and diplomacy.
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The dispute began after the government transferred a group of detainees to El Salvador on March 15, 2025. While the planes were in flight, the district court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) enjoining the government from “removing” class members.
Though the Supreme Court later vacated that TRO, the district court pursued criminal contempt charges, arguing the government willfully violated the order by handing the detainees over to Salvadoran authorities rather than retaining custody.
After the government identified Secretary Noem as the official responsible for the transfer decision and provided declarations from senior counsel, the district court ordered live hearings to further investigate the “willfulness” of the decision.
The appeals court ruled that the district court’s investigation was a “legal dead end” because the original TRO was not clear or specific enough to support criminal charges.
“The TRO’s restriction provided in full: ‘The Government is ENJOINED from removing members of [the] class… pursuant to the Proclamation.’ … The TRO said nothing at all about transferring the plaintiffs out of the custody of the United States.”
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The court noted that “remove” traditionally refers to a change in physical location—moving someone out of U.S. territory—which had already occurred by the time the order was issued. Because the written order was silent on the issue of maintaining custody, the court held it could not serve as the basis for a criminal conviction.
The decision emphasized the “paramount necessity” of protecting the Executive Branch from judicial overreach, particularly in matters of foreign affairs. Judge Rao noted that the district court’s proposal to allow plaintiffs’ counsel to participate in questioning government officials created an improper “freewheeling inquiry.”
“Occasions for constitutional confrontation between the two branches should be avoided whenever possible,” Rao wrote, citing Supreme Court precedent.
Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs issued a sharp dissent, arguing that the court’s intervention was premature and undermined the rule of law.
“Without the contempt power, the rule of law is an illusion,” Childs wrote. She argued that the district court was merely performing “responsive factfinding” and that the majority’s decision would allow future litigants to ignore court orders based on their own “preferred interpretation.”
In a separate concurring opinion, Circuit Judge Justin Walker focused on the district court’s own oral instructions during the initial emergency hearing. He noted that the judge told attorneys they “don’t have to race to write it down” because a written order would follow.
Since the subsequent written order did not prohibit the transfer of custody, Walker concluded the government had not violated any standing directive.
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