East Potomac Park in Washington will stay open past Sunday. U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes on Saturday, Nov. 14, issued a temporary restraining order that stops the Interior Department and the National Park Service from closing the park and its public golf course on Nov. 15, the date President Trump set for the shutdown.
The order runs through Nov. 28 unless the court changes it sooner. Reyes wrote that the government's stated reasons for the closure, a missing golf operator and a deteriorating seawall, were "pretextual," and that the agency likely broke federal environmental and administrative law by moving to shut the park without the required review and public comment.
What stays open on Sunday
Under the order, the golf course must remain open and accessible to the public during the hours it was open as of Nov. 14, and so must everything else south of Buckeye Drive SW, including Ohio Drive SW, the loop road used by runners and cyclists. The course can still have its usual short closures.
The Park Service does not have to run golf there or hire an operator. It cannot, however, point to the lack of golf operations as a reason to keep people out.
Officials may still fence off the area right around active seawall repairs or an imminent safety hazard, but each time they must notify the court and the plaintiffs within 24 hours with a description of the threat and a sworn statement from a senior Park Service official. The agencies had until noon Sunday to send the order to every employee and contractor it affects.
Why the judge ruled against the closure
On Oct. 18 and Oct. 26, Trump posted on Truth Social that the course would close on Nov. 15 so work could begin on a redesign that the court record calls the Fazio Design. He wrote that the rebuilt course would be able to host events such as the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup. Two days after the second post, the Justice Department told the court the closure was "consistent with the President's directive."
The Park Service's written closure decision, posted Nov. 12, left the president out and instead cited two things: the end of National Links Trust's contract to run the course on Nov. 15, and safety problems with the course buildings and the seawall. Reyes found that the Park Service itself had ended that contract, and that the agency has listed the seawall as a hazard since 2019 without closing the park. She also noted that more than 30,000 runners circled the park in the Marine Corps Marathon, with the Park Service's approval, three days before the agency first told the court it would close the park.
The ruling also says the closure notice will not appear in the Federal Register until Monday, Nov. 16, a day after the planned shutdown, while Park Service rules generally require public notice and comment before a park closes.
What happens next
The plaintiffs, led by the DC Preservation League, must post a $1 bond by Friday, Nov. 20. Reyes said she would be available Sunday if either side needs an emergency clarification. Her earlier injunction against cutting trees on the course still stands.
The same court earlier appointed former U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu to examine whether government lawyers misled the judge, which Edit USA reported on Nov. 7.
