Rudolph Contreras

Early life and education

Contreras was born in 1962 in Staten Island, New York. His parents were immigrants from Cuba, and he grew up in Miami.

Contreras graduated from Florida State University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science. From 1985 to 1988, he worked for the Miami Herald as an account executive. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating in 1991 with a Juris Doctor and Order of the Coif honors.

Career

From 1991 to 1994, Contreras was an associate at Jones Day. In 1994 he was a government attorney in the District of Columbia. From 1994 to 2012, he served as an assistant United States attorney, in the District of Columbia from 1994 to 2003 and in the District of Delaware and as chief of the civil division from 2003 to 2006. He returned as an AUSA to the District of Columbia from 2006 to 2012, serving concurrently as chief of the civil division.

Federal judicial service

On July 28, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Contreras to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to replace Judge Ricardo M. Urbina, who assumed senior status in 2011. On October 4, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination and on November 3, 2011, reported his nomination to the floor of the Senate. On March 22, 2012, the Senate confirmed Contreras in a voice vote. He received his commission on March 23, 2012.

In April 2016 Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Contreras to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a term starting May 19, 2016. On May 19, 2021, Contreras was named the Presiding Judge.

Notable cases

On November 17, 2016, Contreras dismissed a lawsuit against U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seeking to compel a vote on the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland, finding that the plaintiff, who had simply said he was a voter, had no standing to sue.

In 2017, Contreras was assigned the case of United States of America v. Michael T. Flynn, the former National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump. The two-page indictment was released on December 1, 2017. Contreras accepted Flynn's guilty plea to one count of making false statements to the FBI in the course of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The guilty plea was part of a plea bargain with the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert S. Mueller III. On December 7, 2017, Contreras was recused from further sentencing hearings scheduled to take place in the future. The case was reassigned to District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. According to several reputable sources, text messages show that Peter Strzok, a veteran FBI counterintelligence official who worked on the Flynn case as part of Mueller's team, knew Contreras.

On August 6, 2020, Contreras dismissed a lawsuit House Republicans filed against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that challenged proxy voting rules adopted during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. He ruled that the Constitution's "Speech or Debate Clause" prohibited lawsuits over Congress's legislative efforts, concluding, "the Court can conceive of few other actions, besides actually debating, speaking, or voting, that could more accurately be described as 'legislative' than the regulation of how votes may be cast".

On March 5, 2021, Contreras ruled that the states of Illinois, Nevada, and Virginia had ratified the Equal Rights Amendment too late for the amendment to be valid, as they did so after the congressionally imposed 1982 deadline.

On March 4, 2025, Contreras ruled that President Donald Trump had unlawfully terminated Merit Systems Protection Board Chair Cathy Harris. Harris had been dismissed via a two-sentence email on February 10, 2025, with no reason given. Contreras found that under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, MSPB members can be removed only for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office", and ordered Harris reinstated. Citing the 1935 Supreme Court precedent Humphrey's Executor v. United States, he wrote that "direct political control over the MSPB would neuter the Civil Service Reform Act's statutory scheme." The Justice Department immediately appealed, and on March 28, 2025, the D.C. Circuit granted an emergency stay, effectively allowing Trump to remove Harris while the case continued.

On May 29, 2025, Contreras ruled that Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, two Illinois-based toy manufacturers challenged Trump's tariffs on imports from China, Canada, Mexico, and other countries. Contreras found that IEEPA "does not authorize the president to impose the tariffs set forth" in Trump's executive orders, writing, "the power to regulate is not the power to tax". Unlike the Court of International Trade, which issued a nationwide injunction the previous day, Contreras's order applied only to the two plaintiffs. The case was consolidated with others and is now before the Supreme Court, with oral arguments held on November 5, 2025.

References

References

1. (8 December 2017). "Judge presiding over Michael Flynn criminal case is recused: court". Reuters.
2. Tillman, Zoe. (July 29, 2011). "Former Colleagues Weigh In on Rudolph Contreras Nomination". [[Legal Times.
3. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary. (July 28, 2011). "President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Court". [[whitehouse.gov]].
4. {{FJC Bio
5. "PN858 — Rudolph Contreras — The Judiciary".
6. "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 2016 Membership".
7. "FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT OF REVIEW Current and Past Members June 2021".
8. (November 18, 2016). "Judge dashes Merrick Garland's final, faint hope for a Supreme Court seat". [[The Washington Post]].
9. "Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI in Russia Probe".
10. (December 7, 2017). "Judge recuses in Michael Flynn case". [[Politico]].
11. (December 8, 2017). "Judge presiding over Michael Flynn criminal case is recused: court". [[Reuters]].
12. "Texts show judge who recused himself in Flynn case was friendly with FBI agent involved in probe". [[The Washington Post]].
13. (March 16, 2018). "Strzok and Page Plotted Covert Meeting with Presiding Judge in Michael Flynn Case".
14. Swanson, Ian. (August 6, 2020). "Judge throws out House GOP lawsuit over proxy voting".
15. Denean, Austin. (August 6, 2020). "Judge throws out GOP lawsuit challenging proxy voting".
16. Axelrod, Tal. (March 5, 2021). "Judge rules states were too late in ratifying Equal Rights Amendment".
17. Cohen, Zachary. (March 4, 2025). "Cathy Harris: 'Merit board' chair was unlawfully fired by Trump, judge rules". CNN.
18. "Harris v. Bessent".
19. (May 29, 2025). "Court strikes down most of Trump's tariffs, ruling them illegal". CBS News.
20. Howe, Amy. (October 2025). "Trump's tariffs to face Supreme Court scrutiny".