The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to recuse herself from a legal battle over the cutting of hundreds of trees at a historic Washington, D.C., golf course, accusing her of belittling government lawyers and unfairly questioning their intelligence. In a filing Friday, the Justice Department argued that U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes should be disqualified from the case involving East Potomac Golf Links, where the administration's tree-removal operation prompted a contentious court hearing and an order temporarily halting further cutting.
"Judge Reyes's behavior in this case is nothing short of egregious," the administration said in the filing. The Justice Department accused Reyes of having "repeatedly belittled and shouted at" the attorney representing the United States during an October 12 hearing and of having "unfairly questioned Trump Administration attorneys' intelligence." It also alleged that she allowed her "disdain for the Trump Administration to influence how hearings unfold" and disregarded separation-of-powers principles. The DOJ pointed to Reyes telling government counsel: “If you don’t understand the relevance of the questions we’re asking, the government has a much bigger problem than I understood it to have.” The department noted in its filing that the attorney is deputy chief of its Natural Resources Section and described her as an expert in the issues before the court.
Democracy Forward Foundation, which represents the plaintiffs, told Newsweek it had no additional comment on the government’s filing. A Department of the Interior spokesperson referred Newsweek to the Justice Department for comment. Newsweek also reached out to the National Park Service on Saturday.
Department of Interior, was filed in February and is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Preservation League and two local residents, oppose the effort to remove Reyes from the case, saying in a court filing that they were “aware of no basis for disqualification or recusal.” The Justice Department argues Reyes's conduct at the October 12 hearing was part of a broader pattern of mistreatment of government attorneys.
Its motion also cited her conduct in other high-profile litigation involving the Trump administration as evidence of what it characterized as a “pattern of animus.” Reyes was nominated by former President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023. The DOJ's motion also pointed to a previous judicial misconduct complaint against Reyes stemming from separate litigation challenging Trump's military policy. The latest dispute stems from the administration's removal of hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Links, a historic public course that Trump has sought to remake.
Reyes sharply confronted government attorneys during the October 12 hearing. The government did not notify the court until 4:55 p.m. on October 9, when it said the National Park Service planned to remove “up to 529 trees.” Work began the next morning, and about 430 healthy, non-invasive trees were removed, according to Reyes’ October 13 opinion. Reyes wrote that the government would have removed hundreds more but for a rain delay.
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