WASHINGTON — A federal judge said Friday she would open a “formal inquiry” to investigate if attorneys for the Trump administration violated ethical boundaries during a legal dispute about a golf course project — one in a pair of plans that are revealing the breadth of the president’s attempts to mold parts of the District of Columbia to his own vision.
The two cases, unfolding at the same time in the same federal courthouse, also showcase the underlying executive authority claims that lie beneath them — a glimpse into the uses of presidential power under Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes’ declaration that the court would appoint a “special master” into whether agency officials, and Justice Department attorneys, had made misrepresentations in the court is a far cry from her relationship with the government until this month. She had rejected numerous motions from the plaintiffs to step in, saying she trusted the government attorneys.
The cases involved are an impending shutdown and reconfiguration of a historic public golf course and the construction of a monumental arch that, at 250 feet, would be 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty is from its base to the top of the torch. The two projects are barely three miles apart.
The hearing on the golf course change began as other recent ones have: Reyes questioned Associate Atty. Gen. Stanley Woodward Jr. over how Trump’s desires to turn the golf course, near the National Mall, into a world-class facility have become urgent plans that match his public pronouncements.
Reyes stopped the hearing several times and adjourned to her chambers to check previous transcripts of the trial as she questioned Woodward. Among things she wants examined: Was a National Park Service official told to exclude details in a court declaration? Did witnesses offer misleading testimony about the extent of plans in place for the course’s closure and renovation?
At one point, Reyes read the code of conduct to government attorneys on presenting erroneous or false information during a hearing.
Reyes ordered Friday’s hearing after multiple Truth Social posts by Trump indicated that there were plans for the golf course and construction was expected to begin Nov. 15. Trump said the park would be closed for 15 months while work goes on.
The presidential posts, which began Oct. 18, created a tense dynamic in multiple court hearings afterward when officials from the Interior Department, Justice and Park Service could not confirm the existence of the plans under questioning from Reyes. She eventually asked whom she should trust. The Justice Department filed notice Wednesday night that the plans were real.
“On Friday, October 30, 2026, the National Park Service will submit to the National Capital Planning Commission for review a rendering designed by Tom Fazio for a World Class, championship-level golf course that is capable of hosting major events,” the notice said.
Reyes locked in on the filing and Trump’s multiple Truth Social announcements as she questioned Woodward.
At one point, as they talked about plans that Woodward said came about only this week, he slipped and included tree cutting as part of the preparation for the closure.
Reyes responded immediately: “News flash.” She allowed him to correct himself that the tree cutting, which occurred earlier this month, was not part of the plan to close the East Potomac Park Golf Course.
The golf course lawsuit was one of two cases in court Friday dealing with the Trump administration’s push to expand its executive authority as the president remakes the federal areas of the capital near the National Mall and along the Potomac River.
Three courtrooms away, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan was to hold a hearing on a motion asking that she call a temporary halt to plans to begin construction as early as Nov. 5 on the memorial arch. The arch is opposed by a small group of veterans and an architectural historian who sued in federal court in Washington, saying Congress must endorse the project.
“The public interest leans heavily against allowing defendants to blaze ahead,” the plaintiffs said in seeking the injunction. “This court should enter a preliminary injunction blocking defendants from beginning construction on Memorial Circle in the hope that they can render the arch a fait accompli before this Court has made a final determination.”
Legal experts who have been watching the numerous cases underway say that what might appear at first glance to be vanity projects are in truth cases that test the limits of presidential power.
Past administrations pursued legal theories that were sometimes legally sound, sometimes not, said David Super, law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.
“But there was always the assumption that you would try to do things that were legal,” he said. “What we’re seeing here now is that if you think the federal courts can’t stop you,” you can break the law.
That’s ”going to do long-term damage to the country,” Super said.
On the same week that a court filing showed that construction on President Trump’s hotly contested triumphal arch could begin as soon as Nov. 5, another less reported development pointed to the possibility that the government might be misrepresenting its plans for Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes in West Potomac Park.
On Monday, the National Park Service held a meeting about a proposed redesign to the park, which is part of the National Mall and also where Trump wants to put his Garden of Heroes featuring more than 250 statues ranging from Humphrey Bogart to Kobe Bryant to Benjamin Franklin. Trump first proposed the idea in 2020, but it wasn’t until his second term — when he began a crusade to remake much of Washington, D.C.’s historic core according to his own predilections — that the plan looked as if it might manifest. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act even appropriated $40 million for the project.
The Garden of Heroes has remained largely in the background while preservationists focused on the demolition of the White House East Wing and the construction of a massive ballroom in its place, as well as the botched painting of the Reflecting Pool, and, of course, the gigantic triumphal arch.
But Monday’s NPS meeting about plans for West Potomac Park rang alarm bells for some when Judy Chesser, chair of the nonprofit conservation and preservation group the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, asked, “How does this relate to the Garden of Heroes that is being discussed in West Potomac?” to which the NPS spokesperson replied, “This is just an update to the tidal basin master plan we started before. This is not the Garden of Heroes.”
However, the Washington, D.C.-based education and advocacy organization Cultural Landscape Foundation noted that the rendering in NPS’ presentation and the illustrated “Pledge Agreement” from the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation contain similarities that “go way beyond coincidental.”
“Each includes a great lawn, a giant oval/circle, an amphitheater, a fountain, and a staircase to the Potomac River,” Charles A. Birnbaum, founding president and chief executive of the foundation, wrote in an email.
“In addition, the new design shown Monday amputates part of the FDR Memorial to accommodate the Oval. This is intentional. Clearly the Oval is meant to host something else or it would be re-scaled so as not to interfere with the FDR Memorial,” the email continued.
In that instance lawyers repeatedly said there were no plans to renovate the golf course (thus preventing U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes from issuing an injunction against said renovations), only to chop down hundreds of trees on the course with no notice over a holiday weekend. Reyes was irate and sources familiar with the feud say that the judge expects the case to go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, as of 2 p.m. PDT, Thursday, opponents of Trump’s arch have filed a motion for an injunction on the possible Nov. 5 construction, arguing that Congress needs to approve any plan moving forward. This head-snapping whirlwind of motions and counter motions is expected by critics to continue to be the norm as Trump tries to push through as many of his D.C.-based renovations as possible before a new Congress is seated in January.
“What better way to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary than to shut down the legally required review process, ignore some 100,000 negative public comments, and fast track the construction of a bloated and deeply unpopular monument that the president claims is for him,” wrote the Landscape Foundation’s Birnbaum in a statement about the arch.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt pitching preservationists for my personal garden of heroes. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
American Sound Takes Flight MUSE/IQUE explores the nation’s music from Aaron Copland to Paul Simon in a concert setting infused with storytelling and cultural context. Featuring Brandon Victor Dixon, Liv Redpath and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra, led by Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby. 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Bach to Broadway The 31st annual concert, featuring Pueri Cantores SGV, the St. Andrew School Choir, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and members of the L.A. Opera and L.A. Master Chorale benefits the restoration of historic St. Andrew Church. 7:30 p.m. St. Andrew Church, 311 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. saintandrewpasadena.org
Ballet Festival: Jerome Robbins at the Ahmanson Theatre
(Steven Pisano / The Joyce Theater Foundation)
Ballet Festival: Jerome Robbins Three programs of the choreographer’s masterworks, curated by New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck, with dancers from New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and other major companies performing to live chamber music 7:30 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. musiccenter.org
Andrew Bird The acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and songwriter joins with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to mark the 20th anniversary of his album, “The Mysterious Production of Eggs,” with orchestral arrangements, plus popular songs from his catalog. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Aymeric Hainaux and François Chaignaud The musician and choreographer team up for “Mirlitons,” a marathon vocal and dance duet. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Nimoy, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Museum on Haunted Hill: A Celebration of Vincent Price The institution pays homage to its original patron, the noted actor, art collector, advocate and historian, with an evening of after-hours access to exhibitions, casual screenings of classic Price films, drinks and snacks, music, a photo booth and haunted decor. 5-8 p.m. Vincent Price Art Museum, East Los Angeles College, 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park. vpam.org
PLAY: A Play EmIly Mast’s unscripted conceptual performance features six players, guided by a coach, working against a clock and an evolving set of rules to examine “the invisible systems that govern power, behavior and care.” With Hugo Armstrong, Gregory Barnett, Chu-Hsuan Chang, Jessica Emmanuel, Jessica Hemingway, Aramazd Stepanian and Maxwell Transue. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo. moca.org
Sinners: Sounds That Summon This exhibition examines the standout Club Juke scene in Ryan Coogler’s Oscar-winning 2025 film focusing on the guitar played by the character Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), costumes, objects and archival material. Through March 14, 2027. California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. caamuseum.org
SATURDAY
Grand Ave Arts: All Access Tenth annual celebration of L.A. downtown cultural corridor with free exhibitions, tours, performances, family-friendly activities and more from participating organizations including the Broad, Center Theatre Group, Colburn School, Classical California, Dataland, Gloria Molina Grand Park, Grand Performances, L.A. Opera, L.A. Phil, Los Angeles Central Library, Metro Art, MOCA, the Music Center and REDCAT. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Grand Ave., between Temple and 6th Streets, downtown L.A. grandavearts.org
Kabuki in Motion: The Lion Returns U.S. Kabuki Ken Kyu Kai presents this program of kabuki dance, Nihon buyō (Japanese classical dance), and live koto and shamisen music featuring artists from Japan and California. 4:30 p.m. The Huntington, Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. huntington.org
Picasso Ceramics From the Rosenbaum Collection The exhibition presents 63 original prints and limited-edition ceramics, including vessels, plates, pitchers and sculptural forms created by the artist after 1947. Through Feb. 28, 2027. Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. bowers.org
SUNDAY
Lucile Dollat The French organist performs music from the 16th century to the present. 7:30 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
TUESDAY
Jason Moran Presents Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings The pianist and composer performs with members of the Pacific Symphony to engage with Ellington’s work through a contemporary frame. 8 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
The Music Man Meredith Willson’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy brings smooth-talking con man Harold Hill to River City, where his schemes are curtailed when he falls for Marian, the local librarian. Through Nov. 8. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Rafael Payare The Canadian ensemble and its charismatic Venezuelan conductor (who also leads the San Diego Symphony) perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93,” plus Felix Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64” with Leonidas Kavakos. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
The 39 Steps Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller (itself an adaptation of a novel by John Buchan) about an ordinary man entangled in international intrigue. Directed by Hunter Foster. Through Nov. 22. Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. lagunaplayhouse.com
The Who’s Tommy The band’s 1969 rock opera featuring “I’m Free,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Sensation” and, of course, “Pinball Wizard,” is transformed into a Broadway musical by composer Pete Townshend and original director Des McAnuff. Through Nov. 15. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. broadwayinhollywood.com
WEDNESDAY
Nedra Ryan Taylor and Sarah Scott Davis in the play “Confederates.”
(Davis Northern)
Confederates Institutional racism, as experienced in two different eras by Black women, is the subject of Dominique Morisseau’s 2022 dramatic comedy. Best known for her three-play cycle “The Detroit Project” as well as the book for the musical about the Temptations “Ain’t Too Proud,” Morisseau juxtaposes the plight of an enslaved rebel and Union spy during the Civil War with that of a contemporary political science professor facing a threatening work environment. Fountain Artistic Director Raymond O. Caldwell directs this sharp-eyed satire examining an unbroken thread of racial and gender bias in American history. (Charles McNulty) Previews, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, play runs through Dec. 13. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave. fountaintheatre.com
THURSDAY
Seasons of America With Teddy Abrams & Ray Chen The world premiere of Abrams’ L.A. Phil commission, written especially for violinist Chen, along with Julia Perry’s “A Short Piece for Orchestra.” Charles Ives’ “Three Places in New England, S. 7” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.laphil.com
Sasha Velour: Travesty The Season 9 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performs a new solo work that spans queer history through lip-sync performances embodying various personas including a witch burned in a field, a clown who builds a theater and patrons of an underground gay bar. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Oct. 30. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
The SoCal scene
Katie Folger gets ready at her home before her performance of “Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man” at the Elysian Theater.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
ICYMI, the best of this week’s L.A. Times arts coverage:
A marble torso sculpted during the early Roman Empire set a new world record for ancient classical sculpture at auction earlier this week when it sold at Sotheby’s New York for $34.3 million. That was almost three times more than its pre-sale estimate of between $8 million and $12 million.
It’s the third afternoon in another string of sweltering days in Los Angeles. A recent Friday offers no salvation for the weekend ahead besides sitting in front of a fan or turning up the air conditioning.
Thankfully, standing inside the climate-controlled walls of the Line hotel’s lobby and behind a cup of joe from its Alfred Coffee, there’s a smidgen of comfort.
The bell to the ground floor elevator rings and out steps a tall figure, wearing an all-black ensemble. His shorts hang just below his knees, his hair is a bit messy and his boots climb up his calf.
Grian Chatten looks remarkably cool for someone who’s just rolled out of bed, even more so for someone who has a performance at Hollywood Forever Cemetery later that night. He’s the leading man behind Fontaines D.C., a Dublin-born rock quintet that’s become one of the most exciting acts to grace a stage today.
And how couldn’t they be?
Their 2019 debut, “Dogrel,” was met with critical acclaim, a masterful album with references to James Joyce and a teeming garage-style production. Fast-forward five years later and their fourth effort, “Romance,” became their first to chart in the United States, reaching No. 97 on the Billboard 200.
Nowadays, they’re kicking up dust again with the release of “Dopamine Chamber,” which came out last Friday via XL Recordings. Its a continuation of the precedent they’ve set in terms of lyrical and sonic quality, but simultaneously is far more melancholic and synthesized than their previous work.
“Dopamine Chamber” is the band’s fifth release, following the success of “Romance” back in 2024.
(Ewen Spencer)
However, its rollout was rocky as the debut music video “Marianne” was criticized for its use of artificial intelligence. When the psychedelic, entrancing recording first hit YouTube, it listed a credit for AI “artists” in its description, sounding alarms among the band’s loyal fan base.
After all, it was widely viewed as contradictory of the group, which has been vehemently outspoken on various contemporary issues, including what the U.N. Human Rights Council has officially concluded to be genocide in Gaza.
We sat down with Chatten to discuss the new album, as well as some of the backlash the band has recently faced.
Tell me about this album title. Is it a literal happiness chamber?
It was me [who came up with it] because it originated as a line in a song, and the song never made it onto the album. We kept the pairing of words “dopamine chamber.”
I wanted to make it a bit more literary. Turns out that the dopamine chamber … it’s where they put rats to test different chemicals or in order to check their dopamine levels. We found that out after.
So it’s fake happiness.
It’s almost like nonconsensual happiness. I mean, if that exists.
Do you ever feel like that in life? Like you’re like forced to be happy with everything bleak that’s going on?
I think we force ourselves to feel a certain happiness every now and then, just so we can compartmentalize things and go about our day. I think that’s a survival mechanism, anyway. But to lose that is dangerous.
This album is a lot more synthesized than your previous work. “Six Short Morning” and “Mimesis” definitely stand out there.
It made sense, thematically. I felt that those textures signaled … I hate using the word “dystopian,” but the dystopian future. I wanted the album to feel more like an advanced version of “Romance,” where the body of the record had become more bionic. There’s a reason that there are so many strings and cinematic stuff, that’s the organic world that I wanted to draw on — people like Mina, the ‘60s singer from Italy.
The acoustic sounds are, of course, still present.
They’re supposed to be kind of like fighting for space, a little bit.
One track that stuck out to me was “Happy for You,” because of it’s insincere flattery. Who or what do you have in mind when you write songs like that?
It’s a bit like [R.E.M.’s] “Shiny Happy People,” it’s a similar function. That song is a jealousy of other people’s happiness or well-adjustedness.
I noticed those internal struggles show up a lot on this album. On “One Man,” are you singing about feeling the weight of many?
I think that’s more about the general existential feeling of helplessness in the face of things that are happening in the world. I’ve got a really good friend called Nikolaj Schultz, do you know him?
No idea.
He’s a sociologist and philosopher, and he writes mostly about the environment, the Anthropocene, and he’s written a couple of books with the French philosopher Bruno Latour, who passed away [in 2022]. He’s someone who’s strapped to their bed and feels away the world from morning to night.
That was a profound influence on “Romance” and on this album. So I think “One Man” pertains to that, maybe even to him.
It seems like you are heavily inspired by literature, more so than other artists would be by just general music and listening.
I think in literature, I can understand sometimes what the point is in what they’re writing. For example, this Schultz book “Land Sickness,” the style of it is to render the audience sensitive to this issue just by the osmosis of showing how much it affects you. Like, my mom got me into music by showing me how much it affected her.
How did the feature with Rosalía come about for “Where Is Gone?”
Well, this is our first feature. Carlos [O’Connell], our guitarist, grew up in Spain and had been listening to her first couple of records. Then we got into “Motomami” together and it became a fixture to listen to it backstage before our shows. When “Lux” came out, we were all quite obsessed with it.
We were four days out from mixing or from mastering the album, and Carlos rang me. He was like, “I think we’d be mistaken to not just send Rosalía something and see if she’d be interested.”
We sent her four tracks. We sent her “Where Is Gone?,” “One Man,” “Tongue,” and I can’t remember what the other one was. She got back within 48 hours with a full vocal of “Where Is Gone?”
You weren’t in the studio together?
She was on tour. She was in Miami at the time.
What happened with “Marianne?” There was a moment where it was credited to AI “artists.” Then it was corrected to be effects artists.
I woke up at like 5:30 a.m. the day after the video came out, and I saw an article that said there was AI used in the video, and I called our management, and I was like, “What the f—, is this true?” and it turned out that there was some AI used in like the workflow or the postproduction.
So all those main scenes and main effects and stuff were VFX and prosthetics, like the cheeks and everything. Over 110 people worked on the thing. It was a real huge human effort. But then somewhere in the process, someone from the VFX team I guess used some kind of AI in the workflow. And none of us were told about it. Apparently, not even our label or our management were told about it and it was a real shock.
Yeah, it seemed like you guys didn’t know.
Of course. I mean, we’re gonna have it written into our contracts going forward that like it can’t be in our music videos. You know what I mean? I don’t condone it.
I think a lot of people were shocked just because you guys are so active in contemporary issues, which AI certainly is.
It’s so f— ironic. No, very contradictory. The themes of the f— album as well. I was hoping to talk about how I felt about AI in interviews at some point anyway, and then this kind of pulled the rug from under that conversation a little bit.
It just f— sucked.
Well, how do you feel about AI?
I think it’s f— terrifying. I was watching a Robin Williams scene from “Dead Poets Society” when he talks about poetry, literature. These are the things that we stay alive for, and well, that’s exactly what AI threatens to rob from the human race.
I’ve seen those articles about those guys who are leaving AI companies because they said that the human race is going to be dead within 10 years. AI is literally rendering our souls obsolete and I think that is true death.
A lot of people say, “It’s here, we have to deal with it.”
We should just shut it off.
It always ends here. Every conversation [about AI] just ends grim. This is like every conversation with my dad over the last three years about it. It makes it tough to be alive, doesn’t it?
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump on Sunday announced plans to close a historic public golf course in the nation’s capital for 15 months and redevelop it despite an ongoing court challenge to his long-sought renovation.
Trump posted on social media about his intent to shut the East Potomac Golf Course, not far from the White House, starting Nov. 15 to make it “one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World.”
A judge last week, however, ordered a halt to his redevelopment plans until at least Oct. 26 after scolding the government for starting a large-scale tree removal at the course over a holiday weekend while providing little notice to the court or the plaintiffs trying to stop the makeover.
Trump did not acknowledge the legal fight in his post, which included an artist’s rendering for the course redesign.
“When completed, it will be open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf and able to hold World Class Tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup,” Trump wrote.
Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs challenging his renovation plans, responded by saying that the course is part of a national park and recreation facility that is meant for everyone to enjoy.
“Our litigation is intended to protect this community jewel for the people and communities it serves and we will continue to work with our plaintiffs to defend it from unlawful and harmful intrusion,” Skye Perryman, the president and chief executive of the group, said in a statement.
The judge in the case took notice of Trump’s online message and ordered the government to notify her by 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday whether its position had changed from a court filing Friday that said “at most” Trump has given “preliminary thought” to the rebuilding plan and “there is no final agency action.”
Extensive makeover
Trump, a golf aficionado who plays often, already had announced plans to makeover the links as part of his broader project to renovate and refurbish places around Washington, including the White House and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Many of his projects, including plans for a huge ballroom at the White House, the installation of his own name on the Kennedy Center and construction of a massive arch, have been challenged in courts.
The 106-year-old park and course has been the subject of many emergency hearings as the president has sought to renovate it. Although it has been open to Washingtonians of all income levels, opponents of Trump’s plans to turn it into a high-end course have argued that it will alter the character of the space and make it less affordable.
Trump in his post echoed arguments he has made to justify his plans to remake the Kennedy Center, arguing it is in such dangerous condition that it needs to close.
“The current Course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect. It is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall,” Trump wrote.
Debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing to make way for his ballroom project also has been dumped on the grounds. The National Park Service has said the debris tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals.
Trump also sought to justify the National Park Service’s removal of hundreds of trees that the judge paused, writing in his announcement that when the golf course was originally built, “it was famous for no trees, with views of Washington, D.C., for all to see, but now, it is completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe.”
Case returns to court
Trump’s post outlining a clear plan for construction complicates a federal court hearing scheduled for Monday in a lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League and two golfers opposing the construction.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes has ordered key members of the administration to testify on the recent tree cutting and whether those actions are tied to the president’s plans for the historical public links.
The administration on Friday asked for Reyes to be replaced on the case, questioning her impartiality and citing what it called “egregious” behavior from the bench in response to an emergency hearing Oct. 12. Her frustration boiled over in a three-hour hearing when she lambasted the government’s attorney for the lack of notification she and the plaintiffs received before the trees were chopped down.
At the upcoming hearing, the judge is expected to address the request that she step aside. Meanwhile, over the weekend the plaintiffs asked that she grant them a more long-standing preliminary injunction in the case and/or a stay.
Price writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course, a historic D.C. golf course that has been part of President Donald Trump’s plans to remake the city.
Reyes issued the order following a tense three-hour hearing in which she blistered the government for having deceived her with its actions over the holiday weekend.
Reyes said the 24-hour temporary order could be extended to 14 days if necessary. It was limited to one day while the government tries to find a key Trump administration official to discuss why a massive tree-cutting at the park needed to occur over the holiday weekend, with little notification to plaintiffs in a lawsuit trying to halt renovation plans or the judge.
It’s the latest example of the erosion of trust between the government and the independent judiciary, as the Trump administration tries to steamroll scrutiny of its actions, from the White House ballroom to immigration enforcement.
The hearing started with a blistering 15-minute statement from Reyes, who has declined repeated motions from the plaintiffs to halt work by the administration out of concern that its strategy has seemed to be move ahead on projects despite court actions.
“I am thoroughly unamused right now,” Reyes said. “I do not know how I could have made it any plainer that I did not want what was to happen, to happen.” The judge added: “I have given the government every single benefit of the doubt that it would not do precisely what it has done.”
She told the government’s lawyers sharply: “I wanted you all to be better than you have been.”
The emergency hearing on a holiday expanded as the judge ordered the government to get various participants in the decision-making process into the hearing remotely.
Reyes plans to hold another hearing Tuesday and wants to hear from Greg Wischer, deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department. Wischer pushed for the work to be done urgently, according to testimony from Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the National Park Service.
Fields writes for the Associated Press.AP writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
