A judge has barred the Trump administration from cutting down or damaging any additional trees on the public golf course in D.C. that President Trump wants to begin overhauling.
Before she heard arguments last week on whether to extend that ruling, Trump announced the course will be closing Nov. Reyes, a Biden appointee, was furious , saying that the administration had been telling her for months there was no final plan to begin work. She issued a temporary order at that time to stop the tree felling though Oct.
Reyes also ordered the administration to provide written notice at least 10 business days before it closes the golf course, in whole or in part, and before it makes any “irreversible modification to any forms or features of East Potomac Park. The DC Preservation League and two local golfers challenged the project in February, but the case began heating up earlier this month after the administration razed hundreds of trees over a holiday weekend, giving the court less than 24 hours notice. 26. 15 for a roughly 15-month renovation.
She said that while the events surrounding the case have become extraordinary, her ruling, to stop an agency “from proceeding as the President wants,” wasn’t. Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction on Monday evening to stop further tree clearing on the East Potomac Golf Links, unless there is an imminent threat to public safety, while litigation is ongoing over Trump’s plan to turn the grounds into a championship-level course.
In her ruling Monday, Reyes said she found the plan was final, confirmed by not j ust by the president and Interior secretary’s posts, “but also by the Government’s actions, not the least of which is the removal of hundreds of healthy, non-invasive trees on no real notice. 10 to begin implementing a 2019 landscaping plan for the property. Earlier reporting noted: At a hearing, the judge excoriated the government after workers cut down at least 400 trees over a holiday weekend with little notice to the plaintiffs.
In courtroom testimony, Interior Department Deputy chief of staff Gregory Wischer said Trump’s renovation of the golf course is part of the president’s broader work to beautify the nation’s capital, but the agency started cutting trees on Oct. The administration must give 10 days’ notice in writing before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” to the course while the lawsuit is active.
Earlier reporting noted: A federal judge agreed Monday to extend an order blocking the Trump administration’s renovation plans for a century-old public golf course in the nation’s capital. Earlier reporting noted: US District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the East Potomac Golf Course.
