Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mail-in ballot rule
A federal judge in Washington said today that she is not going to do anything about the 150 trees that contractors have cut down in and around the East Potomac Golf Links as Trump pursues a controversial renovation there.
Justice Department attorney Michael Robertson told the court that 77 of the park’s 3,800 trees were cut down in recent months after they were determined to be “invasive” and that 73 more were chopped down after they were considered “dead, dying or hazardous.”
Robertson said some of the work to renovate the century-old municipal golf course frequented by beginners and D.C. locals requires “big equipment,” as golfers, runners and bikers at the park have seen in recent days.
“That’s why we’re seeing Bobcats on site,” Robertson said. He said the administration believed the work was routine maintenance and therefore not subject to the judge’s previous order to notify the court before beginning renovations.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she found “no reason” not to believe the government’s statements, but she found the particular topic of today’s hearing ironic. “We are here talking about a president yet again chopping down cherry trees,” Reyes said, 250 years after the nation’s birth.
Robertson went on to say the administration is working through the appropriate compliance required by the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, along with approvals from the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.
“My concern has always been from a place of the administration’s improvement plans are just plans,” Reyes said. “Until they’re already done.”
Opponents of the renovation, led by the D.C. Preservation League, sued the Interior Department to try to stop it, as many local patrons have shared concerns that they’ll lose an inexpensive and accessible golf course.
In response, the government has argued that it is following proper protocol before it goes forward with construction.
Reyes wrote in an earlier court filing over the summer that she was hesitant to trust the government on its assertion that there were not yet a schedule for construction or finalized plans for the renovations.
“I don’t want another demolished East Wing; I don’t want another demolished Reflecting Pool,” Reyes wrote, referring to two controversial administration construction projects. “Where will I have comfort that we’re not sending in bulldozers in the dark of night to chop down cherry trees?”
While Reyes decided today not to block the administration from continuing to clear trees in the park, the D.C. Preservation League is expected to file an amended complaint in the coming weeks.
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