Judge Neomi Rao
District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Neomi Jehangir Rao was born in March 1973 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She attended Yale University and then the University of Chicago Law School. She clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, then earned a one-year clerkship with Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court before entering into the private practice of law in London.
She returned to the U.S. where she worked in the White House counsel’s office under President George W. Bush and was a staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Later she became a professor at George Mason University. She founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
She was named by President Trump to become the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget, and was confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate in July 2017.
When President Trump named Brett Kavanaugh as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, he nominated Rao to take his seat at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate confirmed her in a 53-46 party-line vote, and she received her commission in March 2019.
Rao is married to Alan Lefkowitz, and they have two children. She is Jewish.
In the News…
The majority of a panel of the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that D.C. District Chief Judge James Boasberg must end his “intrusive” contempt investigation regarding his 2025 order to halt flights deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador.
Judge Neomi Rao authored the decision that the government’s petition was granted and the district court’s probable cause order was vacated.
The ruling determined, “The Supreme Court vacated the district court’s order because it was premised on a legal error and the plaintiffs’ suit was brought in the wrong court. Nonetheless, the district court threatened to hold government officials in criminal contempt unless they complied with the now-vacated order by, for instance, taking back custody of the plaintiffs.”
Judge Rao wrote, “The district court used the threat of criminal contempt to coerce the Executive Branch to comply with an order it had no authority to enforce. And it directed that coercion toward the Executive’s exercise of its foreign affairs power.”
She continued, “The significance of the district court’s error, coupled with the potential for abuse in future cases, justifies our intervention at this stage of the proceedings. Considering the ‘totality of the circumstances,’ the writ is appropriate.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Rao today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Neomi Rao
U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
E. Bennett Perryman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
