Judge Ana Reyes Pulls Back Demand That DOJ Lawyers Sign East Potomac Golf Links Filing
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Judge Ana Reyes reversed her earlier order requiring Department of Justice lawyers to sign a filing in the tree-removal dispute at East Potomac Golf Links, ending a nearly seven-hour hearing after a contentious back-and-forth over procedure and authority.
Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden-appointed federal judge, ultimately backed away from her earlier demand that Department of Justice attorneys personally attach their signatures to a filing in the East Potomac Golf Links litigation. The reversal came at the end of a nearly seven-hour hearing on Monday, after a lengthy and tense exchange that underscored how aggressively the court was pressing the government.
Reyes had invoked Rule 11, which requires attorneys to certify the factual basis of court filings, and had set a deadline for the DOJ to refile the brief with identified signatories. She later announced, "Late breaking news, I'm going to withdraw request that DOJ refile yesterday's brief with identification of who signed it. we've all got better things to spend our time on."
The case concerns the Trump administration's plan to renovate the federally owned D.C. golf course into a "world-class, U.S. Open-caliber" facility. The dispute escalated after the National Park Service removed roughly 430 trees in February as part of a long-standing restoration effort, prompting Reyes to issue a temporary restraining order on further removals.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. had signed the original filing, and his request for Reyes' removal from the case cited alleged bias and "open hostility" toward the administration. Both Woodward and President Donald Trump have called for the release of audio recordings from the hearings.
"The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane? The tapes have been blocked from usage by the judge," Trump wrote on Truth Social hours before the hearing.
Trump also posted that the interior department plan would begin work immediately and described the proposed course as "great, safe, and prestigious."
Legal analysts noted that requiring senior DOJ officials to sign briefs is a common practice to centralize responsibility for contentious filings. Reyes' initial request was criticized as an overreach into internal DOJ procedures, and she ultimately abandoned the demand without further sanction.
Reyes, appointed in 2023, previously faced a judicial-misconduct complaint related to litigation on transgender military service, which was later dismissed by the D.C. Circuit.