After a fiery day in court, a federal judge laid out the next steps in the fight over hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Links — including testimony from two senior government officials.
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U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes ordered National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron and Gregory Wischer, deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department, to appear next Monday and explain how the Trump administration’s tree-removal plan took shape and why crews moved so quickly to carry it out.
The order followed an extraordinary hearing Monday in which Reyes rebuked government lawyers for allowing approximately 430 trees to be removed Saturday despite her repeated warnings to provide meaningful notice before irreversible work began. Another 299 trees remain targeted for removal, according to testimony.
Reyes halted additional cutting until at least 2 p.m. Tuesday and said she would require 72 hours’ notice before future work that would permanently alter the course.
Wischer has served as Interior’s point person on National Park Service matters involving East Potomac. Reyes sought his testimony midway through Monday’s hearing, but Justice Department lawyers later said they had been unable to reach him.
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The government maintains that the cutting is separate from President Donald Trump’s proposed transformation of East Potomac into a championship-level course. The D.C. Preservation League and two golfers challenging the administration contend that it is dividing a larger redevelopment into smaller projects to avoid reviewing its full environmental and historic-preservation effects.
Reyes made clear Monday that she no longer trusted government assurances that the court would receive adequate notice.
“I have no faith that the government isn’t going to cut them down unless there’s an order in place not to do so,” she said.
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