A federal judge has once again blocked President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of a public golf course in Washington.
District Judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary two-week injunction Tuesday barring the National Parks Service from cutting down any more trees on the East Potomac Golf Links. The tree clearing is part of a plan to transform the public golf links into an exclusive, high-end course.
During an emergency hearing Monday, a furious Reyes tore into the Trump administration for proceeding to cut down more trees over the weekend. The government had only notified the court of its intentions shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, and at the start of a holiday weekend.
“I trusted you all not to do precisely what you have done,” she said during the hearing, declaring that the government had “lost credibility” by defying her instructions to give advance notice of any renovations.
When Justice Department attorney Marissa Piropato argued the actions over the weekend were “not a renovation,” Reyes slammed her excuse as “preposterous,” “doublespeak,” and “completely beyond the pale.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller took to social media Monday to hit back at Reyes. “I missed the part of the Constitutional Convention that put federal judges in charge of golf course maintenance,” he wrote.
It’s funny, I must’ve missed the part where the Constitution gave the president permission to order expensive demolition and renovation projects without receiving a whiff of congressional or legal approval. And yet, that is what Trump has done time and time again.