Ana C. Reyes on Arts and Culture

Public disputes concerning cultural institutions, their programming, funding, governance, naming and physical facilities, and the artists and audiences who rely on them.

How we classify topics

Counts show individual statements. They do not assign an overall position.

Statement history

2 statements on this page. Dates: October 13, 2026 to October 18, 2026

2 matching statements. Dates: October 13, 2026 to October 18, 2026

2 published statements. Dates: October 13, 2026 to October 18, 2026

Condemned

1 published statement. Dates: October 13, 2026

1 statement on this page. Dates: October 13, 2026

Ana C. Reyes

Role at the time: U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, presiding over the case

October 13, 2026Condemned

Response to this claim

The Park Service's tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course is a step in the administration's plan to rebuild the course and was carried out without the environmental review the National Environmental Policy Act requires.

“That asks rather a lot of coincidence. For now, Plaintiffs have satisfied the factors necessary for the Court to enter a temporary restraining order prohibiting further implementation of the TMP. They have shown a likelihood of success on jurisdiction: the individual plaintiffs regularly golf at East Potomac Golf Course, and the TMP is final agency action. They have also shown a likelihood of success on their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claim as NPS likely failed to comply with that statute’s procedural and “hard look” requirements.”

Read the original textDC Preservation League v. Department of the Interior, No. 1:26-cv-00477 (D.D.C.), memorandum opinion granting a temporary restraining order (Dkt. 79) · United States District Court for the District of ColumbiaMemorandum opinion, pages 1-4

Reyes granted the plaintiffs' emergency motion and barred further work under the Park Service's tree management plan at East Potomac Golf Course. The opinion describes the October 10 tree removal and testimony from the October 12 hearing.

Archived copy

Why we used 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 rejects the government's suggestion that the timing of the removal was a coincidence, saying it "asks rather a lot of coincidence", and finds the Park Service likely failed to comply with the law's procedural and review requirements, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization; it loses because she goes beyond disputing the government's account and bars further work.

Read statement Judge bars further tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course and rejects a Justice Department motion to disqualify her

Challenged the characterization

1 published statement. Dates: October 18, 2026

1 statement on this page. Dates: October 18, 2026

Ana C. Reyes

Role at the time: U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, presiding over the case

October 18, 2026Challenged the characterization

Response to this claim

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.”

Read the original textDC Preservation League v. Department of the Interior, No. 1:26-cv-00477 (D.D.C.), memorandum opinion and order denying the motion to disqualify (Dkt. 95) · United States District Court for the District of ColumbiaMemorandum opinion, pages 1-3 and 8

Reyes answers each of the government's claims of bias with excerpts from earlier hearing transcripts and denies the motion.

Why we used 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.

Read statement Judge bars further tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course and rejects a Justice Department motion to disqualify her