Federal Judge Ana Reyes Throws Another Tantrum Over Tree Removal at DC Golf Course

Here we go again. Another Biden-appointed judge decided Monday that shouting at government lawyers counts as jurisprudence. Judge Ana Reyes, who’s quickly building a reputation as the judicial equivalent of a smoke detector that won’t shut off, erupted at Department of Justice attorneys over trees being removed from East Potomac Golf Links. Not national security secrets. Not constitutional crises. Trees.

Let’s get the facts straight before we wade into this mess. President Trump announced a plan to transform the public golf course at Hains Point into a championship-caliber facility, enlisting golf legend Jack Nicklaus to design something that doesn’t look like it’s been maintained by a committee of bureaucrats who’ve never swung a club. The current course, as Trump accurately described it, features grass that looks ancient and conditions that wouldn’t pass muster at your local muni track. This isn’t some vanity project either. The plan specifically benefits young people and disabled individuals while upgrading military facilities that have suffered from decades of neglect.

But Judge Reyes apparently thinks her courtroom doubles as a theater for political resistance. She screamed at government attorneys because they filed notice at 4:55 on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend that tree removal would begin Saturday morning. About 430 trees came down, implementing a landscape restoration plan that the National Park Service drafted back in 2019. That’s right. This wasn’t some midnight raid cooked up in the West Wing. This was following through on a plan from the previous administration.

The government’s position is straightforward and legally sound. They’re executing an existing Park Service restoration plan while simultaneously improving a public facility that’s been deteriorating for years. You know what’s interesting? Nobody seemed too concerned about proper notice requirements when the Biden administration was ramming through eleventh-hour regulations and executive orders. Funny how judicial temperament changes depending on whose ox is getting gored.

Reyes has form here, and it’s not pretty. This is the same judge who previously grilled a Trump administration attorney about his religious beliefs during litigation over transgender military service policies. She asked how Jesus Christ would respond to policies she personally disagreed with, as if theological cross-examination suddenly became part of federal procedure. The audacity is breathtaking. Trump’s Justice Department filed a formal misconduct complaint against her for that stunt, and honestly, they had every right to be furious.

The pattern is unmistakable. Reyes also ruled earlier this year that Trump violated federal requirements when he fired several inspectors general, though she declined to reinstate them. It’s the judicial equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. Make the political statement, grab the headlines, but stop short of remedies that might actually expose the weakness of your legal reasoning.

What really galls here is the selective outrage. Where was this righteous fury over proper procedures during four years of administrative state expansion under Biden? Where were the emergency hearings when regulations got rushed through at breakneck speed? The answer is simple. Judges like Reyes aren’t neutral arbiters applying law to facts. They’re political actors in robes, and they’re not even trying to hide it anymore.

The substance of Trump’s golf course initiative matters more than the theatrics. We’re talking about taking a dilapidated public facility and transforming it into something world-class that serves military families, young golfers, and disabled individuals. That’s the kind of practical improvement government should pursue. It’s using resources wisely, honoring our commitment to service members, and creating opportunities for people who deserve better than the status quo.

But that’s not the story the resistance wants told. They’d rather focus on a judge yelling about Friday afternoon filings and trees that were slated for removal under a plan approved years ago. The credibility crisis she accused the DOJ of having? That’s pure projection. When you’re screaming at lawyers in your courtroom and interrogating them about their religious beliefs, you’ve already surrendered any claim to judicial temperament.

This is what happens when the judicial appointment process becomes just another front in partisan warfare. You get judges who view the bench as a platform for activism rather than a responsibility requiring restraint. The law becomes whatever advances the preferred narrative, and procedure matters only when it can be weaponized against political opponents.

The Trump administration should keep cutting those trees and building that course. The American people voted for results, not endless litigation from judges who think their personal politics trump duly elected authority. Sometimes progress means ignoring the tantrum and doing the work anyway.