A federal appeals court blocked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s attempt to initiate contempt proceedings against the Trump administration.
In a 2-1 ruling, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the “government has satisfied the stringent requirements for a writ of mandamus.”
“The Court therefore grants the government’s petition for mandamus and vacates the district court’s probable-cause order,” the decision read.
According to Trump-appointed Judge Greg Katsas, “The district court’s order raises troubling questions about judicial control over core executive functions like the conduct of foreign policy and the prosecution of criminal offenses. And it implicates an unsettled issue whether the judiciary may impose criminal contempt for violating injunctions entered without jurisdiction.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the ruling a “MAJOR victory defending President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien terrorists.”
“The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed what we’ve argued for months: Judge Boasberg’s attempt to sanction the government for deporting criminal-alien terrorists was a ‘clear abuse of discretion’ — failed judicial overreach at its worst,” she wrote on X. “We will continue fighting and WINNING in court for President Trump’s agenda to keep America Safe!”
Boasberg announced in April that he found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for disobeying his order to halt deportation flights.
“The Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote in his opinion. “The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory.”
