Reyes denies the disqualification motion, saying what happened was not bias but the government's decision to remove trees
Ana C. ReyesU.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, presiding over the case
Denying the government's motion to disqualify her, Reyes writes that what happened was not sudden bias but the government's decision to remove over 500 healthy, non-invasive trees from the course after giving notice late on a holiday Friday.
Responding to
Judge Ana Reyes cannot impartially decide the East Potomac case and must be disqualified.
“So what happened? Not sudden onset bias. Instead, the Government decided to remove over 500 healthy, non-invasive trees from East Potomac Golf Course.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Judge bars further tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course and rejects a Justice Department motion to disqualify her
The National Park Service removed about 430 trees from East Potomac Golf Course in Washington on October 10, 2026, the morning after the government gave notice in a lawsuit by the DC Preservation League and two golfers that challenges the Trump administration's plans for the course. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes barred further removal, finding the plaintiffs likely to show the agency did not comply with required environmental review. The government then moved to disqualify her for bias, and she denied the motion on October 18. The next day President Trump attacked the judge and said work would begin immediately.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Reyes answers each of the government's claims of bias with excerpts from earlier hearing transcripts and denies the motion.
Before the quotation
Reyes wrote that between February 13, when the case was filed, and October 11 she had not barred the government from taking any action at East Potomac, including tree removal.
After the quotation
She wrote that the government gave notice at 4:55 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend, removed nearly 430 trees in one day, and had not met its burden to show that her actions and words required disqualification.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the Interior Department's October 2026 removal of trees at East Potomac Golf Course and its plans to rebuild the course. Reyes disputes the government's account that her handling of the case reflects bias and attributes the conflict to the government's decision to remove the trees, so we labeled it Challenged the characterization. The closest competing label is Condemned; it loses because in this passage she describes the decision without expressly judging the removal.
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- U.S. Department of the Interior
More from this case
Read the full caseTrump says Interior has "an absolute right" to renovate the course and calls the judge "a crazed lunatic"
“The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It’s as simple as that! The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane?”Read statement
DC Preservation League says the government razed hundreds of trees before the plaintiffs could challenge the work
DC Preservation League
“But, on October 10, Defendants did exactly what they said they would not do: they razed hundreds of trees on the golf course before Plaintiffs had an opportunity to challenge Defendants’ actions.”Read statement
Government's disqualification motion calls the work authorized tree maintenance
U.S. Department of the Interior
“Notably, all of this concerned the government’s performance of authorized tree maintenance in East Potomac Park.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Reyes denies the disqualification motion, saying what happened was not bias but the government's decision to remove trees". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6251-denying-the-government-s-motion-to-disqualify-her