⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The D.C. Circuit considers a deportation dispute that became a fight over enforcing court orders. In March 2025, the government flew Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. Judge James Boasberg ordered removals halted and told government lawyers the men must be brought back. They were transferred to Salvadoran custody; the government says the flights had already left U.S. territory and its actions complied with the written order. The Supreme Court later lifted the restraining orders, requiring challenges to these removals to be filed where the detainees were held. Boasberg’s separate inquiry asks whether officials willfully violated his order. Criminal contempt punishes disobedience rather than compelling future compliance. Now a larger panel, sitting en banc, hears the government’s request for mandamus: an extraordinary order stopping the lower court’s proceedings. Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate will argue that further inquiry is unauthorized and any contempt prosecution would be futile.

In re: Donald J. Trump, et al. (No. 25-5452) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, argued September 29, 2026.