Trump's Sunday announcement prompted US District Judge Ana Reyes to order the Justice Department to explain by 8 p.m. whether it stood by its Oct. 16 court filing claiming there was "no final agency action" and that Trump had given the rebuild only "preliminary thought." In a Sunday night response, the department said the plan Trump posted "is not final because the Park Service has not completed its review and details of the proposal are subject to change," adding that its lawyers had merely interpreted his public statements and that direct conversations with the president were protected by constitutional privileges.
Reyes also rejected an administration motion signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward to disqualify her from the lawsuit over her courtroom rebuke of government lawyers after National Park Service crews felled 430 of 729 trees slated for removal following a 4:55 p.m. Friday notice ahead of a holiday weekend. Finding that the government "has not met its burden to demonstrate that the Court's actions and words demand disqualification," Reyes kept in place a Monday morning evidentiary hearing requiring Woodward, Interior Department Deputy Chief of Staff Gregory Wischer, and National Park Service official Jessica Bowron to appear.