Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the call in March to transfer detainees to Salvadoran custody after a judge ordered their planes to turn around, the Justice Department disclosed Tuesday.

The big picture: A resurrected contempt inquiry into whether Noem and others defied a judge's order will test the limits of President Trump's power to fast-track deportations as he pleases. • The Trump team has defended its decision to proceed with the deportations, saying two planeloads of people had already departed and were outside U.S. territory when Judge James Boasberg gave his oral directive. • Amid a wider battle between MAGA world and the federal judiciary, Boasberg has emerged as a prominent target of the administration's ire.

Driving the news: Noem directed the transfer of the

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