Judge Ana Reyes Orders Trump Officials Not To Cut More Than 10 Trees Without Notice

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. told the U.S. government Monday not to cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice, as a legal dispute unfolded over a historic golf course that President Donald Trump plans to renovate.

“Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge told the U”

Associated Press

U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said during a remote hearing that she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet in the case brought by the DC Preservation League.

Associated Press

Reyes also told the National Park Service that it should first discuss any plans with government lawyers if it was going to cut down more than 10 trees.

The hearing came after the plaintiff’s emergency petition sought to stop work at the course, citing news reports that major renovations were to begin Monday.

During the proceedings, Reyes said she didn’t want to play the role of the “Parks and Rec” department, and she added, “I’m no Amy Poehler.”

At one point, the judge said she was made aware that closure signs had been put up at the site, which led to National Park Service superintendent Kevin Griess asking someone to check.

Griess later reported that there were no such signs, and Reyes asked that if any such signs were found, the government’s attorney be told.

The dispute centers on East Potomac Golf Links, part of East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., where construction crews have been dumping debris from the White House’s East Wing demolition on the golf course for months.

In the National News Desk account, a federal judge on Monday allowed the Trump administration to close a golf course amid renovations on the White House, while referencing the “Parks and Recreation” sitcom when she said, “I'm no Amy Poehler.”

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The same report says U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes declined to immediately block the Trump administration from closing East Potomac Golf Links, saying reports about renovation plans aren’t enough for her to intervene.

The ESPN Singapore and Associated Press versions both describe Reyes telling the National Park Service to discuss plans with government lawyers before cutting down more than 10 trees, and they both say Monday’s hearing followed an emergency petition.

Kevin Griess, described as the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks for the Park Service, told the court there was no plan to begin major work Monday but that a safety assessment was underway.

In the National News Desk story, Griess pushed back on the idea of razing the course, saying officials were planning to tag dying trees and examine other conditions at the golf course, but there were no plans to raze it.

Reyes ordered the government to notify the DC Preservation League if they intend to cut down more than 10 trees or if plans change, and she said, “If ‘bulldozers show up, we’re not doing a whole briefing schedule. I’m going to make people show up with documents pretty quickly,” Reyes said.”

The complaint filed against the Department of the Interior argues that the Trump administration’s reconstruction of East Potomac Park, including the East Potomac Golf Course, would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897.

The court fight featured competing characterizations of what the Trump administration intends to do at East Potomac Golf Links.

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Will Bardwell, a Democracy Forward Foundation attorney who represents one of the plaintiffs, told Reyes that the government would “use this as an excuse to begin hardcore construction under the guise of taking down a dying tree.”

Bardwell’s argument was framed against a concern that the administration’s tree work could become broader construction, and he added, “We don’t want what happened at the Kennedy Center to happen here,” Bardwell said.

Kevin Griess, who helps manage National Park Service sites in Washington, D.C., pushed back on that framing, saying that officials were planning to tag dying trees and examine other conditions at the golf course, but there were no plans to raze it.

In the Associated Press account, Griess said during the hearing that there was no plan to begin such work Monday but added that a safety assessment was underway.

Reyes’s comments during the hearing reflected her view of the role she was playing, as she told the parties she didn’t want to play the role of the “Parks and Rec” department, an allusion to the sitcom.

She then said, “I’m no Amy Poehler,” referring to the show’s star, and the National News Desk version repeats her line as “I'm no Amy Poehler.”

The complaint filed against the Department of the Interior argues that the Trump administration’s reconstruction of East Potomac Park, including the East Potomac Golf Course, would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897.

While the core legal action was consistent across reports, the outlets emphasized different aspects of the dispute and the surrounding context.

The Associated Press focused on the judge’s instruction that the government should not cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice, and it described the hearing as a response to an emergency petition seeking to stop work at the course.

Associated Press

It also highlighted Reyes’s decision not to issue a temporary restraining order just yet and included the exchange about closure signs, with Griess later reporting there were no such signs.

ESPN Singapore similarly centered the tree-cutting limit and described Reyes telling the National Park Service to discuss plans with government lawyers before cutting down more than 10 trees, while also repeating that she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet.

The ESPN Singapore version also included the argument that the complaint filed against the Department of the Interior would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897, and it specified that the course opened in 1919.

By contrast, the National News Desk framed the judge’s action as allowing the Trump administration to close a golf course amid renovations on the White House, and it tied the story to months of debris dumping from the White House’s East Wing demolition on the golf course.

It also described Reyes declining to immediately block the Trump administration from closing East Potomac Golf Links, saying reports about renovation plans aren’t enough for her to intervene.

The Livingston Enterprise entry did not provide substantive details about the hearing itself, instead listing unrelated obituary content and a page footer with contact information, and it did not include any of the hearing’s quoted lines or legal specifics.

The judge’s order and comments set conditions for what the government can do next at East Potomac Golf Links, and they also shaped how quickly the parties may escalate the dispute.

“Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge told the U”

Associated Press

Reyes ordered the government to notify the DC Preservation League if they intend to cut down more than 10 trees or if plans change, and she said, “If ‘bulldozers show up, we’re not doing a whole briefing schedule. I’m going to make people show up with documents pretty quickly,” Reyes said.

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In the Associated Press account, Reyes told the National Park Service to first discuss any plans with government lawyers if it was going to cut down more than 10 trees, and she said she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet.

The hearing’s immediate context was an emergency petition seeking to stop work at the course, citing news reports that major renovations were to begin Monday, but Griess told the court there was no plan to begin such work Monday and that a safety assessment was underway.

The complaint filed against the Department of the Interior argues that the Trump administration’s reconstruction of East Potomac Park, including the East Potomac Golf Course, would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897, which the Associated Press described as establishing the park for the “recreation and the pleasure of the people.”

The ESPN Singapore account adds that the course itself opened in 1919 and that Trump also plans to renovate a military golf course just outside of Washington used by past presidents going back decades.

The National News Desk report says Reyes declined to immediately block the Trump administration from closing East Potomac Golf Links, saying reports about renovation plans aren’t enough for her to intervene.

It also says the DC Preservation League and two golfers originally sued in February and renewed their efforts over the weekend after The Washington Post and NOTUS reports indicated that deferred maintenance and tree-clearing work were set to begin this week ahead of renovations.