A federal judge on Monday allowed the National Park Service to proceed with its maintenance plans for the District’s East Potomac Golf Course, a day after a preservation group argued the repairs are actually the start of a full-scale closure and renovation of the public golf course.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said it is too early for her to issue emergency relief and prevent the park service from proceeding with its scheduled upkeep. But she instructed the agency to alert the court if heavy machinery is brought in to remove trees on the course.
Judge Reyes, a Biden appointee, added that she would need to know the park service’s plans in greater detail at that point.
“I don’t want to be the overseer of parks and rec. I’m no Amy Poehler,” she said, referring to the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”
The D.C. Preservation League, the plaintiff, pushed for the emergency hearing following reports last week in which the Trump administration appeared ready to shut the course and begin extensive renovations to the public property.
That work would include landscaping, tree-clearing and completing deferred maintenance, according to news outlet NOTUS. The project was set to begin Monday.
A larger renovation that could potentially bring the U.S. Open to the course — something President Trump, an avid golfer, said he had envisioned for East Potomac — would take place later.
But Kevin Griess, NPS’ superintendent of the National Mall, told Judge Reyes on Monday that only regular maintenance is taking place.
The Department of the Interior, which represents NPS in the case, was vague about the scope of the maintenance during Monday’s hearing.
When Judge Reyes asked attorneys if the park service planned to shut down the municipal course, the federal government said “no closure notice has been issued … but it’s still under consideration at this point.”
Attorneys for the D.C. Preservation League responded by saying, “That didn’t sound like a ‘no.’”
The plaintiffs argued that a desire to carry out routine maintenance is what caused the administration to close the Kennedy Center and to build a ballroom on the White House’s East Wing.
Democracy Forward, another plaintiff, said Sunday in a press release that a new fundraising brochure is circulating, showing AI-generated images of “East Potomac Park with a Championship Golf Course.”
The brochure was created by the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit affiliated with Trump donor Meredith O’Rouke. Ms. O’Rourke is listed as a point of contact for contributions to the nonprofit.
“The Foundation will lead the comprehensive redevelopment and restoration of East Potomac Park Golf Course in the Nation’s capital, reimagining it as a world-class public asset,” the brochure reads. “This project will modernize facilities, improve environmental stewardship, and expand access for families, youth, and visitors from across the country.”
Judge Reyes said Monday she wants to know if the White House has a role in the fundraising effort.
The municipal course, located on Hains Point, offers views of the Washington Monument and has been a longtime favorite for golfers.
When the Interior Department ended in December the lease for the National Links Trust, the nonprofit that runs East Potomac, concerns were raised about the future of the course that sits on the banks of the Potomac River.
The complaint filed against the Interior Department said any major renovations of the golf course would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897 for the “recreation and the pleasure of the people.”
The golf course first opened in 1919.
