JUST IN: Appeals Court Delivers Huge Blow To Judge Boasberg In Fight Against Trump

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to halt what it called an “intrusive” contempt probe into the Trump administration over deportation flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, handing the White House a major win in a high-stakes separation-of-powers brawl.

In a split decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Boasberg “abused his discretion” by pressing forward with criminal contempt proceedings tied to March 2025 flights, after an earlier order directed the government to turn planes around.

“President Donald Trump’s administration has a ‘clear and indisputable’ right to the termination of the contempt proceedings,” Circuit Judge Neomi Rao wrote in the majority opinion.

RELATED: JUST IN: Judge Boasberg Smacked Down In Huge Win For Trump

Rao, a Trump appointee, sided against Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., who was nominated by former President Barack Obama.

JUST IN: A bitterly divided appeals court panel has, for a second time, blocked Judge Boasberg’s effort to pursue potential criminal contempt against Kristi Noem and other DHS officials for their handling of rushed deportations to El Salvador last year.https://t.co/t1R0zJouVy

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 14, 2026

The dispute centers on whether the administration failed to comply with a court order involving the deportation operation and whether Boasberg had authority to keep pushing a contempt investigation in the middle of that fight. The appeals panel’s ruling effectively yanks the contempt inquiry off the table and blocks Boasberg from continuing to dig into the executive branch’s actions over the flights.

The decision is the latest flashpoint in a broader legal war between the Trump administration and federal judges, as the White House defends its immigration enforcement agenda and argues courts are overreaching into national security and executive authority.

The panel’s opinion underscores that tension, framing Boasberg’s contempt effort as an overstep that the administration did not have to tolerate while the underlying legal battle continues.

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