A federal judge extended an order blocking the Trump administration from removing more trees at Washington's East Potomac Golf Course and required 10 business days' notice before other major changes, after more than 400 trees were cut with little notice.
A federal judge on Monday extended an order blocking the Trump administration from cutting down more trees at Washington's East Potomac Golf Course, and imposed new notice requirements on other major changes to the public course President Donald Trump wants to renovate.
United States District Judge Ana Reyes issued a 70-page opinion granting a preliminary injunction that bars the administration from removing or damaging additional trees while the lawsuit proceeds. Officials must also give 10 business days' written notice before making other irreversible changes to East Potomac Park. Reyes rejected a government request that she step aside from the case.
The dispute came to a head in recent weeks when the administration cut down more than 400 trees on the grounds with little notice, after having assured the court it would not do so. Reyes wrote that she was forced to act now because the government did what it assured all it would not do, and that the timing of the tree removal and the late notice appeared designed to impede the plaintiffs' ability to seek court intervention. Trump has posted plans to close the course and turn it into a championship course, and posted that construction would begin immediately, while calling Reyes a crazed lunatic.
CNN's account of the 70-page opinion and Bloomberg Law's account of the Monday ruling agree on the core facts: the judge, the court, the extended block on tree removal, and the 10 business days' notice requirement. Reyes addressed the case in plain terms in the opinion, writing, in words reported from it, that she does not speak for the trees but speaks only for the rule of law, after earlier remarking that she is not the Lorax. The plaintiffs, the DC Preservation League, argue the government planned to destroy the course and replace it with a championship-style course; the Justice Department has said no final decision on such a plan has been made.
The ruling sets up an appeals fight and leaves the renovation in limbo. The administration cannot cut more trees or make other irreversible changes without the required notice, while the underlying challenge to the overhaul continues. The course itself, a modest public course used by Washington residents for golf, running and seasonal cherry-blossom viewing, stays open under the court's protection for now.