US District Judge Ana C Reyes criticized the Trump administration on Monday after hundreds of trees were cut at a Washington golf course. She had told officials to share major changes before work began. The government admitted that over 400 trees were removed, so she ordered a one-day halt.

US District Judge Ana C Reyes is in the spotlight after she sharply criticized the Trump administration over the cutting of hundreds of trees at a Washington golf course. Here is everything we know about her:

Ana Cecilia Reyes is a judge on the US District Court for the District of Columbia. As per the court's website, she became a judge in February 2023 and took the seat held earlier by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

According to the Federal Judicial Center (FJC), she was born in 1974 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Former president Joe Biden nominated her on January 3, 2023. The Senate confirmed her on February 15, 2023 and her commission was issued on February 21, 2023.

According to the court's website, Judge Reyes was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky.

She studied at Transylvania University (BA, 1996) and Harvard Law School (JD, 2000). She also earned a master's degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 2014.

She also took part in teaching at Yale Law School (2018, 2019) and Georgetown University Law School (2017).

As per the FJC, she was a law clerk to Judge Amalya Kearse at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After that, she worked in private practice in Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2023.

She worked at the law firm Williams & Connolly LLP. She was co-chair of its International Disputes practice group. Her clients included foreign governments and multinational companies.

As per court's website, She also did a lot of free legal work to help refugees get asylum. In 2017, the Women's Bar Association of DC named her "Woman Lawyer of the Year."

As per The New York Times, Judge Reyes strongly criticized the Trump administration on Monday. This was after hundreds of mature trees were cut down at East Potomac Golf Links in Washington over the holiday weekend. She had earlier, in July, told officials to share any major changes before work began.

The Justice Department filed papers on Friday evening saying the government planned to remove 529 trees. By Saturday morning, machines were cutting trees down. The government admitted on Monday that more than 400 were removed over the weekend.

As per The New York Times, the hearing lasted four hours. Judge Reyes joined it remotely from Istanbul, where she had been travelling. She ordered a one-day halt to any more tree removal. She also asked government officials to testify about who approved the cutting and whether the White House was linked to the decision.

"I am thoroughly unamused right now," Judge Reyes said, as per The Times. She also said, "What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility with me in this case."

She warned of what could happen if work continued. "I promise you, if that order is violated by two seconds, there are going to be contempt proceedings," she said.

As per report, the group that sued over the golf course had asked her several times to officially stop all work at the site. She said no each time. She says she wanted to trust the government. She told a Justice Department lawyer, "I wanted you all to be better than you have been."

The hearing was set to continue on Tuesday.