Washington's East Potomac golf course: Justice Department tells court Interior is developing a November 15 closure plan

The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge on October 28 that the Department of the Interior is developing a plan to close Washington's East Potomac Golf Links on November 15 for redevelopment. In a court filing, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward acknowledged that the president twice directed the Interior Department and the National Park Service to close the public course — open since 1920 — on that date, and that the government will give the court notice of its plan. The position reverses what a Justice Department lawyer told the court at an October 19 hearing, when he said there were no plans to close the course by the date the president had stated.

A turn in the court fight

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had extended a ban on tree removals at the course in a Monday ruling and asked the government to respond to whether the president's statements about a November 15 closure meant its position had changed. In the new filing, the government also promised 10 business days' notice before the park closes. The Justice Department appealed Reyes's ruling on Tuesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

What the redesign would change

Earlier this month, the president announced on social media that Interior, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, and golf-course architect Tom Fazio had developed a plan to turn East Potomac into a world-class championship course, closing for about 15 months. A rendering released with the announcement shows a dramatically remade Hains Point with a single 18-hole course, removing Ohio Drive, a century-old grove of cherry trees and a miniature golf course — far from the more modest historic-restoration plan government lawyers have cited in court, and a sharp change for a public space used daily by golfers, cyclists, runners, walkers and birdwatchers. This site reported the president's original November 15 closure announcement on October 18; Wednesday's filing is the government's first confirmation in court that a closure plan is being developed.