Court proceedings opened at 10 a.m. in Washington, D.C., where the National Park Service and President Donald Trump's administration were summoned to explain why they had violated yet another federal judge's order.

The administration has refused to comply with judicial orders in New Jersey — more than 50 times — as well as in Minnesota, Rhode Island, Illinois and on several occasions in Washington, D.C. When it happened again over the, Judge Ana Reyes was understandably irate, and she set out to determine who was to blame and who could be held in contempt. Contempt is the lever federal courts use when a party defies an order, giving a judge tools to compel compliance and, where warranted, to impose sanctions.

According to AlterNet, National Park Service officials were ordered to appear and testify immediately at the morning session — a hearing that ordinarily would not take place on a federal holiday.

The dispute centers on historic cherry blossom trees at Hains Point in East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., where Trump wants to build a new golf course. Two rows of pink cherry blossoms circle the island, flanking a walking and biking path on each side. In late spring, as the petals began to fall, runners and cyclists were treated to a confetti of beauty around them. East Potomac Park is federal parkland administered by the National Park Service, a bureau of the Department of the Interior — a chain of command that became central as officials in the courtroom traced who ordered the cutting.

Hundreds of those cherry blossoms have already been removed — even though the administration had been ordered not to remove them. It was also told not to carry out any advanced construction work beyond regular maintenance while lawsuits made their way through the courts, and to inform the court before undertaking anything major. This weekend, the administration ignored that demand. Government lawyers flagged the work to the judge at 4:55 p.m. on the Friday before the holiday weekend; the following day, crews began removing hundreds of trees. The notice requirement carried real weight: mature trees, once felled, cannot be put back while the litigation runs its course.

In total, the administration plans to remove 729 trees to restore the golf course to how it was "intended" in the 1920s. That claim is unusual, given that Trump has said the property will be an official PGA course capable of holding tournaments. The cherry trees were planted from 1910 to 1912, before the golf course was built.

Former CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane reported from inside the Washington courthouse, where he watched a parade of officials file through to answer the judge's questions directly.

Frank Lands, deputy director of the National Park Service, was named as the official who ordered the tree removal to begin on Saturday. He was ordered to court immediately while the judge questioned others. Park Service supervisor Kevin Greiss told the court that "discussions began on Oct. 6 at 5:39 p.m." about the tree removal. According to MacFarlane, Reyes was "livid that the court plaintiffs weren't notified til PM on Oct. 9."

By the time Lands began testifying Monday afternoon, it had become clear that he knew the trees would be removed on Oct. 5. As the proceeding entered its third hour, Reyes pressed for the identity of whoever made the final decision to rush the tree removal on a Saturday during a holiday weekend.

Asked who gave the directive, Lands named the deputy chief of staff to the Department of the Interior — a post Kate MacGregor previously held before her recent promotion to deputy secretary. Lands then said the full Department of the Interior had called a meeting on Oct. 5 to discuss the matter.

"And there it is," MacFarlane wrote on X, updating followers on the situation. "Judge Reyes demands to get testimony from deputy chief of staff of Dept. of Interior. The buck is being passed... and Reyes is following the buck."

Lands testified that he was told to implement the plans, including the tree toppling on Oct. 5, and to do it "as soon as practical." When the judge asked what that meant, he said he didn't know.

Reyes then ordered the National Park Service deputy director to retain all communications about the East Potomac Golf Course and directed that records not be destroyed, MacFarlane explained. She also wants notes from the meetings preserved. Preservation directives like that one are a standard step when a judge is weighing contempt, because the records become the evidence of who decided what, and when. Asked how much the tree removal would cost, Lands said he could not even offer a ballpark figure. Asked why the work needed to be done so quickly, he said he didn't know that either.

Potentially more revealing, Lands testified under oath that "there was some discussion with White House staff about the golf course project" about three months ago. At that point, the judge asked whether a Trump administration lawyer had tracked down the deputy director of the Interior Department to come into the hearing. She was told the deputy couldn't be reached.

"It's a holiday," the person said.

"Oh, I'm well aware it's a holiday," the judge replied.

By the afternoon, Reyes was no longer raising her voice quite as much as she had that morning, but her anger was still bubbling, according to MacFarlane, who reported that the court took a break as the courtroom regrouped. After the afternoon break, the judge began to lecture the government attorneys, making it clear she had been "lied to." The questions left hanging — who gave the final order, what the removals cost, and what the preserved records show — now shape what comes next, from the testimony Reyes demanded from the Interior Department's deputy chief of staff to a possible contempt finding.

MacFarlane documented the day's testimony in real time in posts on X.