The Trump administration filed a motion late Friday seeking to disqualify U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes from overseeing a lawsuit challenging renovations at Washington, D.C.’s historic East Potomac Golf Course, accusing the Biden-appointed judge of showing bias against the government.

The 13-page Justice Department filing followed Reyes’ decision earlier in the week to halt tree-cutting at the course until October 26, after approximately 529 trees were removed over the Columbus Day holiday weekend. The administration argued that her handling of the case and other litigation involving Trump demonstrated that she could not fairly adjudicate the dispute.

“In light of Judge Reyes’s actions here and in other high-profile litigation involving the Trump Administration, no reasonable observer could consider Judge Reyes sufficiently impartial to adjudicate this case,” the Justice Department argued.

The lawsuit was filed in February by the D.C. Preservation League and two individuals challenging Trump’s plans to transform the public golf course into a championship-level venue capable of hosting major professional tournaments. The administration has argued that Reyes’ rulings have improperly restricted the government’s ability to carry out maintenance and construction work on the property.

The Justice Department accused Reyes of questioning government attorneys’ intelligence, allowing hostility toward the administration to influence court proceedings, and disregarding constitutional limits on judicial authority.

“Judge Reyes has unfairly questioned Trump Administration attorneys’ intelligence, allowed her disdain for the Trump Administration to influence how hearings unfold, and systematically disregarded basic separation of powers principles and Article III constraints on judicial authority,” the motion stated.

The filing followed a contentious hearing Monday in which Reyes sharply questioned government attorneys about the rapid removal of hundreds of trees and the limited advance notice given before the work began. In a subsequent order, she criticized the justification and planning behind the project.

“Breakneck speed to clear trees that posed no harm,” Reyes wrote. “The reason? Disputed. The budget? Unclear. The environmental impact? Unstudied. The urgency? None. Next steps: bulldoze hundreds more.”

The administration also pointed to Reyes’ conduct in other cases involving the Trump administration, alleging a broader pattern of hostility and questioning her judicial temperament. The government asked that the case be reassigned to another federal judge and that audio recordings of the hearings be released so the public could assess what it described as the judge’s animosity.

“The Trump Administration is entitled to a neutral forum and an adjudicator who is capable of maintaining the appearance of impartiality,” the motion stated.

Reyes ordered the plaintiffs to respond to the disqualification request by Sunday afternoon. The motion is an allegation by the government, and its filing does not itself establish that the judge is biased or guarantee that she will be removed from the case.

Trump has promoted the golf course renovation as part of a broader effort to reshape Washington through major construction and redevelopment projects. In June, he said the upgraded course would be capable of hosting events including the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship.

The dispute now puts the administration’s renovation plans and the judge’s handling of the case at the center of a growing legal confrontation over the future of one of the capital’s historic public golf facilities.