Appeals Court Terminates Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Trump Admin

A federal judge was eyeing contempt charges after the government deported individuals to El Salvador despite his order to bring them back to the United States.

District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington on March 16, 2023. Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP

An appeals court has put a stop to criminal contempt proceedings initiated by a district judge against the Trump administration.

In a brief, unsigned order on April 14, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated a previous order by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and ordered him to terminate the contempt investigation he began in December 2025.