Anti-Trump Federal Judge Plotted ‘Constitutional Crisis,’ Memo Reveals

A recently resurfaced memo reveals that U.S. District Judges — including James Boasberg, the chief judge for the powerful District of Columbia circuit — hatched a plot to undermine the Trump Administration by triggering a “constitutional crisis.”

According to the memo, which was obtained by The Federalist, Boasberg advised Chief Justice John Roberts and roughly two dozen other judges that his D.C. colleagues were “concern[ed] that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis.”

During the week of March 11, 2025, members of the Judicial Conference met in the nation’s capital for its first of two regular meetings. The Judicial Conference serves as the national policymaking body for the federal court system.

The Judicial Conference consists of Chief Justice Roberts, who presides over the body, as well as the chief judge of each judicial circuit, the chief judge of the Court of International Trade, and one district judge from each regional circuit, making for a group of approximately thirty judges. While the conference largely focuses on administrative and policy decisions affecting the federal court system, a prominent “side conversation” at the meeting concerned the D.C. circuits inherent bias against the Trump Administration.

The memo outlines a “working breakfast” at which the chief justice spoke. According to the memorandum, “District of the District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg next raised his colleagues’ concerns that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts leading to a constitutional crisis.”

“Chief Justice Roberts expressed hope that would not happen and in turn no constitutional crisis would materialize,” the memo added. Chief Justice Roberts further stated that “his interactions with the President have been civil and respectful, such as the President thanking him at the state of the union address for administering the oath.”

The Federalist noted that the memorandum is especially concerning considering the fact that President Trump is a defendant in an avalanche of lawsuits filed against the federal government, a large percentage of which have been filed in D.C. district court. “As such, this conversation did not concern generic concerns of the judiciary, but specific discussions about a litigant currently before the same judges who expressed concern to the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court that the Trump Administration would disregard the court’s orders,” the outlet reported.

Just a few days after the meeting, Boasberg ordered the Trump Administration to stop deportations to El Salvador by claiming the president had no authority to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Obama-appointed judge went so far as to order planes already in the air to turn around and later tried to hold administration officials in contempt for failing to comply with the order, which was not even feasible.

In April, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump does indeed have the ability to invoke the wartime act, which prompted Boasberg to back down. The high court further reined in Boasberg and his colleagues in June when they removed the ability of U.S. district judges to issue nationwide injunctions.