A golf course that has been open to the public in Washington, D.C., for over a century may be closing, and a federal judge wants to know whether the government told her the truth about why.
A federal judge has opened a formal inquiry into whether Trump administration officials misled the court in the fight over East Potomac Park, the riverfront green space in the capital that is home to a municipal golf course. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered the inquiry after the government, in writing, admitted for the first time that there is a plan to shut the course and turn it into a championship-level venue.
The hearing on Friday was the third in three weeks. It came two days after lawyers for the Interior Department and the National Park Service told the court, in a written filing on Wednesday, that closing the course and much of the park in mid-November was, in fact, planned. For months, the same lawyers had argued in court that no such final decision existed, even as President Trump posted online that the makeover was coming.
What the judge asked
Reyes opened the hearing by reading D.C. Bar Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3, which bars lawyers from making a false statement to a court or failing to correct one. She turned to Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr., the third-highest official at the Justice Department and the lawyer leading the defense, and asked whether he wanted to correct the record.
“Not to my knowledge,” Woodward said, adding that he had not read every transcript in the case. When he noted the government had “lots of binders,” Reyes answered, “I bet you do.”
Over roughly four hours, she pressed Woodward on when the renovation plan was decided and whether his team had been straight with her about it. The exchange follows an earlier order in which Reyes halted tree-clearing and major work at the park, a decision the government has appealed.
The row over the course sits alongside other recent clashes between the administration and the courts. A judge recently blocked Ethiopian deportations despite a Supreme Court order, and an appeals court rejected a Trump order on mail-in voting ahead of the midterms. In a separate case, a grand jury indicted an ICE officer for an assault in Houston, testing the reach of federal immunity.
Why it matters
The immediate question is simple for the people who play there: will the course close? Reyes is now probing whether the government can be trusted on that answer. If the inquiry finds the court was misled, it could shape whether the closure moves forward and how much weight the judge gives the government’s promises from here on.
For now, no final decision on the course’s fate has been issued, and the administration’s appeal of the work stoppage is pending. Reyes has not announced her next step, and both sides are expected to return to court.
