Update: In response to the DoJ statement today, Judge Boasberg doubled down. He has a lot of support behind him, including the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Here’s the appropriate response:
Your order is lawless and dangerous.
You are not entitled to this information.
Revealing this information endangers our national security, including the President’s ability to protect our nation from invasion and to conduct foreign affairs.… https://t.co/3UxYeDMS0n
— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) March 18, 2025
Original Story
The DoJ responded to Judge Boasberg. Basically, they told him to pound sand. The Trump administration will not allow an activist judge to undermine his presidential powers. The Department of Justice told Judge Boasberg to “vacate the hearing and de-escalate the grave incursions on Executive Branch authority that have already arisen.”
Plaintiffs cannot use these proceedings to interfere with the President’s national security
and foreign affairs authority and the Court lacks jurisdiction to do so. In response to Plaintiffs’ filing (Dkt. 21) and this Court’s order setting a hearing for this afternoon, the government submits the below response. Because it provides the necessary information to confirm the government’s compliance and represents the full extent of what counsel is authorized to share with the public or Plaintiffs, the Court should vacate the hearing and de-escalate the grave incursions on Executive Branch authority that has already arisen.
Summary
In sum, just as a court assuredly could not enjoin the President from carrying out a foreign drone strike or an overseas military operation, or from negotiating with a foreign power to coordinate on such an operation, nor could a court lawfully restrict the President’s inherent Article II authority to work with a foreign nation to transfer terrorists and criminals who are already outside the United States. Consequently, even if one could broadly and improperly construe the Court’s written minute order as restricting the government from “turn[ing] over … to foreign governments” alien enemies who were already abroad (Dkt. 21, at 2), that still was limited by its terms to actions taken “pursuant to the Proclamation.” Once the terrorists had been removed from the United States, any decision by the President to take such actions pursuant to independent constitutional authority is therefore not a violation of the Court’s orders in all events.
5. Because there has been no violation of the Court’s orders, and because the government is not prepared to disclose any further national security or operational security details to Plaintiffs or the public, the Court should vacate the hearing scheduled for this afternoon. The government does not make this request lightly. The Executive Branch has designated TdA a foreign terrorist organization, a designation that Plaintiffs do not challenge. The course of these proceedings—in which the Court has enjoined removal of aliens whom the Executive Branch has determined are part of a foreign terrorist organization—raises extraordinary concerns about the rule of law and the Executive Branch’s ability to take swift actions to keep the Nation safe.
Read the motion here: doj-motion-to-vacate-boasberg-venezuelan-migrant-hearing
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