Judge Ana Reyes reverses demand for DOJ to sign golf course brief

Key Points:

• Judge Ana Reyes, appointed by President Biden, reversed her demand that Justice Department attorneys sign a court filing in a dispute over tree removals at a federally owned D.C. golf course, withdrawing the request after a nearly seven-hour hearing.
• The case centers on the Trump administration's plan to renovate East Potomac Golf Links, with controversy sparked by the National Park Service's removal of approximately 430 trees, which the Interior Department said was part of a historic restoration unrelated to Trump's overhaul.
• Reyes had earlier imposed a temporary restraining order to halt further tree removals and was accused by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. of bias and hostility toward the Trump administration, leading him to seek her removal from the case.
• President Trump publicly criticized Reyes on social media, calling her a "crazed lunatic" and demanding the release of court audio recordings, while also asserting that work on the golf course renovation would begin imminently.
• Reyes has a history of contentious interactions with the Trump administration, including a previous judicial-misconduct complaint that was dismissed, with the D.C. Circuit suggesting recusal motions as the appropriate remedy for disputes over her conduct.