DC Preservation League Seeks Stay Over East Potomac Golf Links Takeover
Lawyers for the DC Preservation League filed an emergency stay request on Sunday afternoon to halt the Trump administration’s reported plans to take over east potomac golf links after Sunday. The move shifts the fight over DC’s largest public golf course into the District Court for the District of Columbia.
Skye Perryman Pushes Urgency
Skye Perryman said the administration appeared to be moving forward aggressively to shut down DC’s largest public golf course, and the group asked the court to intervene before the reported closure and renovation plan advances. “Despite attestations to the court, the Trump-Vance administration appears to be moving forward aggressively to shut down DC’s largest public golf course to explore another of the president’s pet projects to benefit himself.”
She added, “We are asking the court to act urgently to save this important part of our national park system from being another casualty of a reckless administration.” The stay request follows a February injunction effort by the DC Preservation League and two area residents aimed at stopping the administration from moving ahead.
East Potomac Lease Fight
The dispute now sits against a 50-year lease the National Links Trust signed with the National Park Service in 2020 to manage East Potomac, Rock Creek and Langston. The Department of the Interior filed a notice of termination on Dec. 31, adding another layer to a case that has already moved from park management to courtroom fight.
Late Friday, another report said the National Park Service will close the course and begin renovations, with Tom Fazio named as the architect for the work. That same course has also been the site where truckloads of dirt and debris from the White House East Wing ballroom demolition project were dumped onto the grounds without explanation, and debris and soil began showing up there in 2025.
Rebecca Miller And The Course
Rebecca Miller said, “The East Potomac Golf Links is a unique cultural landscape that reflects the history of recreation in the nation’s capital. Altering its historic character would undermine a site meant to be accessible to the public.” Her argument goes to the heart of the broader dispute: whether the site should stay in its current public form or be reshaped under the reported takeover and renovation plan.
East Potomac’s appeal has also been tied to its sight lines to the Washington Monument on almost every hole, a detail that helps explain why the course has drawn such sustained attention. For golfers who use the course now, the immediate issue is whether the court will halt the reported takeover before Sunday’s deadline passes and the administration’s next step begins.
