Trump Administration Seeks Judge’s Disqualification in Golf Course Case, Citing ‘Animosity’ Toward Government

The Trump administration is seeking to remove the judge presiding over a closely watched legal dispute involving construction and tree removal at a public golf course in Washington, D.C.

In the case, golfers and an environmental group filed suit in February, alleging that President Donald Trump planned to “destroy East Potomac Golf Course and to build in its place a championship-style golf course suitable for professional tournaments.”

At the outset, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, resisted granting the plaintiffs preliminary relief. She told the parties she did “not want to be the overseer of Parks and Rec.” In the months since, however, her approach to the dispute has shifted markedly.

The Department of the Interior removed roughly 529 trees in early October, prompting a sharp response from Reyes, as Law&Crime previously reported. The judge accused Justice Department attorneys of doing “your absolute worst” and harshly rebuked the government during a hearing.

In a subsequent written order, Reyes described the effort as moving at “breakneck speed to clear trees that posed no harm.” She added: “The reason? Disputed. The budget? Unclear. The environmental impact? Unstudied. The urgency? None. Next steps: bulldoze hundreds more.”

Earlier this week, the Justice Department sharply criticized Reyes’ rulings, legal reasoning and conduct throughout the litigation.

By late Friday, the administration escalated the dispute by formally seeking her disqualification.

“In light of Judge Reyes’s actions here and in other high-profile litigation involving the Trump Administration, no reasonable observer could consider Judge Reyes sufficiently impartial to adjudicate this case,” the government said in its 13-page motion to disqualify.

The DOJ argues that Reyes “has hamstrung the Government’s legitimate attempts to maintain East Potomac Park from the outset.”

The allegation responds directly to a remark Reyes made during the hearing, when she said she had “given the government every single benefit of the doubt.”

The filing acknowledges one formal aspect of the judge’s earlier ruling while challenging what the government says has been its practical effect.

“While Judge Reyes formally declined to enter any order against the Government until this week, in May she effectively granted Plaintiffs veto power over any significant maintenance at the Park,” the motion states.

The government particularly objects to an order requiring the Trump administration to notify the court when construction equipment larger than a sedan enters the park containing the golf course. Officials did not provide that notice before the tree-clearing operation that triggered the latest controversy.

Justice Department attorneys said they had not been fully informed about the operation.

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“Why don’t you ask for details?” Reyes demanded during the hearing.

A DOJ lawyer responded, “We did ask for details,” and said officials “did our best.”

“No, I’m sorry. Ignorance is not an excuse here,” Reyes replied.

The disqualification request points to several alleged “examples of bias” arising from the hearing and the court’s orders.

“Judge Reyes has unfairly questioned Trump Administration attorneys’ intelligence, allowed her disdain for the Trump Administration to influence how hearings unfold, and systematically disregarded basic separation of powers principles and Article III constraints on judicial authority,” the filing says.

The motion requests the case be transferred to a different district court judge — and then continues to criticize Reyes.

From the filing, at length:

Defendants respectfully submit that this matter should be transferred to another district court judge—one who has not demonstrated open hostility towards Defendants by prejudging the outcome of motions that are yet to be filed, summoning witnesses with no notice on federal holidays, calling witnesses to appear to testify at hearings on motions that have yet to be filed, and for violating the basic norms that a judge be a fair, neutral, and impartial arbiter applying the law to facts before the Court.

The Trump administration does not limit its criticism to Reyes’ behavior in the present case alone and accuses the judge of “a pattern of animus” against the government dating back to February 2025 in a case regarding the rights of transgender service members.

“Judge Reyes’s histrionics in prior hearings have clearly demonstrated she is no longer impartial,” the motion goes on.

The motion criticizes the judge’s “temperament” and “disdain for the government and its counsel” by likening her statements to those made by an anti-German judge during a World War I espionage case.

“She has screamed at full voice, suggested that the government was acting contrary to the will of Jesus, and accused counsel for the government of having done her ‘absolute worst,’ in addition to the statements described above,” the motion continues. “The Trump Administration is entitled to a neutral forum and an adjudicator who is capable of maintaining the appearance of impartiality.”

The motion also asks for the hearing audio to be released so that the public can “fully appreciate Judge Reyes’s animosity.”

The court quickly took stock of the motion to disqualify, ordering the plaintiffs to file a response by Sunday afternoon.

The post ‘Disdain for the government’: Trump admin moves to disqualify judge in golf course case by accusing her of ‘histrionics’ and ‘animosity’ first appeared on Law & Crime.