Judge Reyes weighs order to keep East Potomac Park open past Sunday

Reyes signals a Saturday ruling before the park lease expires

Washington, D.C.’s East Potomac Park could close indefinitely on Sunday unless a judge decides to intervene. The park is home to the municipal golf course that President Trump wants to redevelop into what he calls a championship-level venue.

At the hearing, which NPR’s Rachel Treisman watched from 10 in the morning, administration lawyers argued that repairs are needed not only to the golf course but to the entire recreational area around it. The government gave two main reasons for closing almost the entire park: the lease with the golf course’s current operator expires that day, and it wants to repair the park’s seawall, which has been deteriorating for years.

Reyes did not really seem persuaded. The government chose to end its operator lease on Nov. 15, which is the day President Trump has said the park would close, and it conceded that it does not yet have a plan to repair the seawall or a contract to redevelop the golf course. Reyes suggested she would rule on Saturday, leaving open whether she orders the park to stay open or goes even further and tells the government to keep the golf course open too.

There was a lot of discussion about how Trump’s proposed redesign would change a space that many Washington residents use daily. Critics say the scale of the course would make it less accessible for beginners, and it would eliminate the perimeter loop that joggers use every day and that hosts big races such as the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. Event director Rob Wolfe, who is still hoping the race can take place in April, said the loop’s removal would have broad consequences.

“It’s really important that people understand that if this roadway goes away, hundreds - thousands of people on a daily basis will lose out,” Wolfe said.

The government has recently started arguing that the park needs to be closed because the seawall poses a safety issue. At one point, the government’s lawyer mentioned a risk of unattended children falling into the Potomac River at night. Reyes seemed pretty incredulous, repeatedly asking why those concerns had not been addressed sooner and whether the whole park really needs to be closed for that.

The golf course plans are not final. The government has already submitted the proposal to two different federal commissions, but it still needs to go through environmental reviews and get public input. Reyes pressed the government’s lawyer on whether it is too late to change course, especially given how much people in Washington are opposed to the plan.

Reyes says she has gotten death threats over the case. There have been protests by cyclists and birders. At one point, Reyes asked people in the courtroom how many of them were there because they care about East Potomac Park, and almost all of them raised their hands.

The hearing again foregrounded the tension between Reyes and the administration. Reyes has been very vocal about feeling misled by the administration — by officials and by its lawyers. Two weeks ago at the last hearing, she announced she would open an investigation into potential attorney misconduct, citing a long history that includes the administration cutting down hundreds of trees in October after telling her they wouldn’t, and administration officials telling her there was no final plan to close the course despite the president saying so online. Reyes chose a first-term Trump administration lawyer to lead that probe, but the government opposed the choice at Friday’s hearing, which means Reyes will probably lead the investigation herself.

Judge Reyes opened Friday’s hearing by referencing recent CNN reporting saying the Interior Department has destroyed documents related to Trump’s construction projects, which the department denies. She asked the government’s lawyer if he had heard anything about that. He said no, and she said if she finds out otherwise, there will be consequences in a zeptosecond — a measurement she noted is the shortest ever recorded in a lab.

Other checks on the administration’s Washington projects may come from Congress. Democrats have said they hope to use their incoming congressional majority to push back, which could mean blocking funding or holding oversight hearings. The golf course dispute is one of several of these projects playing out in court, alongside the proposed arch and the Kennedy Center, which President Trump has said he wants to make the Trump Kennedy Center.