A Biden-appointed judge abruptly withdrew her demand that DOJ attorneys sign a brief after a nearly seven-hour clash with Trump's Justice Department over a D.C. golf course.
Judge Ana Reyes ended a marathon hearing Monday by dropping her order that Justice Department lawyers identify themselves on a Sunday filing signed only by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr.
Fox News reported that Reyes had invoked Rule 11, the federal rule that can bring sanctions when a court filing lacks a proper factual basis, and pressed the attorneys hard before reversing herself. The fight centers on tree removals and renovation plans at East Potomac Golf Links, a federally owned course in Washington, D.C.
Hours before the hearing, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the judge on the case was a “crazed lunatic” and said court tapes “have been blocked from usage by the judge.” He also asserted the administration’s right to turn the course into a “great, safe, and prestigious” golf course.
“Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY! The finished product will be World Class, and bring income and great prestige back to D.C.,” Trump wrote.
Reyes had demanded that DOJ attorneys raise their hands if they would sign the brief and ordered them to the podium. Woodward called that “not an appropriate request.” He and the lawyers refused.
The judge first set a 3 p.m. deadline, then pushed it to noon Tuesday. After nearly seven hours, she quit the fight.
"Late breaking news," Reyes said. "I'm going to withdraw request that DOJ refile yesterday's brief with identification of who signed it. we've all got better things to spend our time on."
That Sunday brief had been signed only by Woodward. Reyes had flagged what she saw as a conflict between Trump’s public push for a full overhaul and a prior filing that stated there was “no agency action” in the president’s golf-course plan.
Woodward has sought Reyes’ removal from the case, accusing her of bias and “open hostility” toward the Trump administration. Both he and Trump have called for release of the court’s audio recordings of the hearings.
The National Park Service removed roughly 430 trees at East Potomac Golf Links over a weekend earlier this month. Reyes then imposed a temporary restraining order barring further tree removals.
The Interior Department said the work was part of a years-old plan to restore the course’s historic design and was unrelated to Trump’s proposed overhaul. Trump has said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and architect Tom Fazio developed a plan to revamp the links into a “World Class Championship Golf Course,” with work set to begin November 15.
Trump has also said he will have legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus redesign the golf courses at Joint Base Andrews, which he described as “really bad” with “400-year-old grass.” The East Potomac dispute is the one now in Reyes’ courtroom. The lawsuit was first filed in February.
Trump has kept a relentless public schedule while these fights unfold, including a packed Kansas stop where he announced diesel relief for farmers and pressed economic priorities for rural America.
Former federal prosecutor Abhishek Kambli explained on X why high-level appointees sometimes put their names on contentious filings.
"For those wondering, a common reason high level DOJ appointees sometimes signs briefs boils down to good leadership," Kambli wrote. "If there is something that is likely to be contentious with a judge, a DOJ leader signs their name on the brief so that any issues someone has with the brief is directed at them rather than lower level attorneys. Regardless, it goes without saying that a decision such as this should not be something a judge is inquiring into."
Rachel Boulvard, vice president of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute, pointed to another pressure.
"DOJ line attorneys increasingly do not sign briefs because of Dem law fare. Dems have and continue to go after the bar licenses of young DOJ line attorneys who are simply executing on behalf of the department," she wrote on X.
That backdrop matters. Forcing junior lawyers into the spotlight is not a neutral housekeeping request when political lawfare has already targeted career attorneys for doing their jobs.
Security and political tension around Trump’s public appearances have stayed high as well, including a case in which a Kansas man was charged after allegedly mapping roofs near a rally site.
Reyes, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023, has clashed with the Trump administration before. At an Oct. 12 hearing she was described as “screaming” at administration attorneys.
In a February 2025 hearing on other litigation, she questioned a Trump administration attorney about what Jesus Christ would say about policies excluding transgender people from homeless shelters. Then-DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle filed a judicial-misconduct complaint with the D.C. Circuit accusing Reyes of “hostile and egregious misconduct” and potential bias. The complaint was later dismissed; the circuit’s chief judge said a recusal motion was the proper path.
On Monday she again set hard deadlines, including an 8 p.m. filing deadline after Trump’s posts, before deciding the signature fight was not worth the court’s time.
Trump has not softened his own rhetoric on the trail either, as when he needled House Democrats at a Kansas rally and kept the pressure on progressive members of Congress.
East Potomac Golf Links sits on federal land in the nation’s capital. The administration wants a world-class, U.S. Open-caliber course that brings income and prestige back to D.C. The Interior Department insists the tree work was a long-planned historic restoration, not a stealth start on Trump’s redesign.
Reyes’ temporary restraining order still bars further tree removals while the larger dispute continues. Woodward’s bid to remove her from the case remains part of the record. The court audio Trump and Woodward want released has not been made public in the reporting.
Foreign-policy and personnel debates inside the broader Trump orbit have drawn their own headlines, including coverage of how JD Vance has handled Netanyahu endorsement questions after the president’s clear backing.
What the Monday hearing showed was simpler. A judge escalated a signature demand under Rule 11, stretched the fight across nearly seven hours, faced a wall of refusal from the Associate Attorney General, and then announced she had better things to do.
Taxpayers and lawful stewards of federal land deserve courts that decide real disputes, not courtroom theater that starts with raised hands at the podium and ends with a shrug when the pressure runs the other way.
