Judge Reyes drops DOJ brief order after long golf course hearing
Judge Ana Reyes on Monday withdrew her order that the Justice Department refile a brief with the names of career lawyers who agreed with it. She reversed course after a hearing of more than six hours on the East Potomac golf course. She had refused a DOJ bid to remove her.
A federal judge in Washington withdrew an order Monday that would have forced the Justice Department to refile a court brief listing the career lawyers who agreed with it, the Washington Examiner reported. She reversed course after a hearing on the East Potomac golf course that ran more than six hours.
"I am going to withdraw the request that DOJ refile yesterday's brief and that I get identification as to who signed," U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said after a break, the Examiner reported. "We've all got better things to be spending our time on."
Earlier, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the department's No. 3 official, said naming the lawyers would put them in an "incredibly untenable" position. Reyes replied, "I don't care what you think," the Examiner reported. Woodward had signed recent filings alone, and he said he would tell the other DOJ lawyers on the case not to answer her questions about it, ABC News reported.
Reyes had denied Woodward's motion asking her to step aside over alleged bias. "It is easy to weaponize selective quotations to bring a baseless recusal motion," she wrote, ABC reported. President Donald Trump attacked her on social media before the hearing.
The case was brought by the D.C. Preservation League and two longtime golfers. They oppose Trump's plan to turn the public course into a championship venue. Reyes had ordered testimony from Interior Department official Gregory Wischer and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron about why the government removed more than 500 trees over Columbus Day weekend without notice to her, ABC reported.
Reyes said there appeared to be "a strong showing of bad faith" in the government's reliance on a 2019 landscape report to justify the tree removal, ABC reported. Wischer maintained the work was about "cleaning up the course," not Trump's redesign. Trump has said renovations will start Nov. 15, but Reyes is blocking major construction, ABC reported.
What we know: Reyes withdrew the refiling order, kept the case and is blocking major work on the course.
What we don't: How Reyes will rule on whether the government acted in bad faith over the trees.
Where outlets agree The Washington Examiner and ABC News both report that Reyes clashed with Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward over his solo-signed filings and denied DOJ's bid to remove her.
Where they differ The cited reports agree on the key facts so far.
That’s the last story in this edition. See every brief from Tue, Oct 20, 2026.