A federal judge has frozen the Interior Department’s plan to clear hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Course, citing Dr. Seuss in her ruling. Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee on the District of Columbia bench, granted a temporary restraining order after the National Park Service had already removed roughly 430 trees in early October. Her footnote reads, “Just ask the Lorax.”
The order remains in effect until Monday, October 26, 12 days from today.
The Ruling
Reyes didn’t mince words about the government’s conduct. “The reason? Disputed. The budget? Unclear. The environmental impact? Unstudied. The urgency? None. Next steps: bulldoze hundreds more,” she wrote. Without relief, she warned, “the ground, landscape and vistas will be irrevocably altered” because “destroyed trees cannot be replaced.”
The judge also challenged the government’s motive. “The Court concludes, on this limited record, that government officials raced to undertake the TMP because President Trump demands haste on his redesign, and not because of some newfound zeal to implement a small part of a seven-year-old CLR,” the filing states.
At a Monday hearing, Reyes said she had repeatedly instructed the government to notify the parties before major demolition began. She said the removal of more than 500 trees without adequate notice has “cost the government all of its credibility” in the case. “I am at a total loss,” she said of the government’s actions. That’s a sharp rebuke. It also points to a process problem the administration could have avoided with a phone call.
The Government’s Case
The Interior Department says the work follows a plan that predates this administration. A spokesperson said Monday, “The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to address tree overgrowth at East Potomac Golf Course.” The spokesperson said the work “will include selective tree and vegetation work to restore the course,” guided by the 2019 Cultural Landscape Report, and will help restore the course’s “historic character and reopen views toward landmarks.”
The government says the 2019 National Parks Service report found that creating a championship-style venue would require removing several hundred trees. The White House referred Newsweek’s questions to Interior.
President Donald Trump confirmed his plans in a June post on Truth Social. He called the 106-year-old public course “virtually unplayable” and said it would be built to the “Highest Standards of Golf,” but “in such a way that the General Public will love it.”
A Course With History
The southwest Washington course carries real weight. It’s regarded as one of the most historically significant in the country. Black golfers challenged segregation there in 1941, 85 years ago, prompting then-Interior Secretary Harold Ickes to order the course open to all players.
Critics have seized on that legacy. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said Monday, “This is a tactic we’ve seen before from the Trump-Vance administration—act quickly to irrevocably alter a cherished national landmark, just to advance another one of President Donald Trump’s pet vanity projects.” Democracy Forward says it challenges “abuses of power that undermine good government.”
A Pattern of Litigation
The golf course isn’t the only project drawing legal fire. During Trump’s second term, renovation work across the capital, much of it tied to semiquincentennial celebrations over the summer, has repeatedly landed in court. The East Wing ballroom has faced legal challenges and criticism. The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool renovation ran into algal blooms and peeling material, and the nonprofit Cultural Landscape Foundation sued, arguing the administration failed to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act. Trump’s proposed triumphal arch in front of Arlington National Cemetery has drawn challenges too, with the Arlington County Board seeking to halt the “feverish pace” of construction.
Why This Matters:
The administration may have a defensible case on the merits. A 2019 report, produced years before this White House’s plans, called for removing hundreds of trees, and public land managers generally have wide latitude to maintain public facilities. But a plan’s pedigree doesn’t excuse skipped notice or a thin record on budget and environmental review. Judges extend deference to agencies that follow the rules; they don’t extend it to agencies that ignore explicit instructions. Every restraining order adds delay and legal expense for taxpayers, and every lost credibility argument makes the next fight harder. If the administration wants these projects to survive judicial scrutiny, process discipline matters as much as the plan itself. A cleaner paper trail would have cost far less than 430 trees’ worth of litigation.