Dc And Virginia Sue To Block Trump Arch Construction

Washington, D.C., and Virginia filed a lawsuit Saturday seeking to block the construction of President Donald Trump’s planned Triumphal Arch on the outskirts of the nation’s capital.

It’s the latest in a volley of legal efforts to stop the president from remaking the city in his image. Construction on the 250-foot arch — which would tower over the nearby Arlington National Cemetery — could begin as soon as Nov. 5, the administration indicated in an October court filing.

“This is not the first time that Defendants have rushed to dramatically remake the District too quickly for courts to intervene,” the attorneys general for D.C. and Virginia wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington. “This Court should not allow this effort to escape judicial scrutiny. It should declare the arch unlawful, enjoin its construction, and ensure that Congress — and the people it represents — have the final say in any new monuments constructed in the Nation’s capital.”

The National Park Service and Department of the Interior, as well as their respective leaders, Jessica Bowron and Doug Burgum, are listed as defendants in the complaint. Neither agency responded to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has defended the arch as a “generational defense opportunity,” saying it will serve a military purpose when completed. In September, the president proclaimed on Truth Social that the arch would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas.”

The plaintiffs wrote that the project is in violation of a law that governs building heights in the district, as well as statutes that “require Defendants to consider alternatives, weigh costs, and engage in appropriate consultation before undertaking a project that would transform the District’s physical landscape and upend its historic plan.”

“In their rush to break ground on the Arch, Defendants have made only half-hearted gestures at complying with these requirements,” they wrote.

D.C. and Virginia also filed a motion Saturday seeking a temporary restraining order to put an immediate halt to the project.

The proposed arch has already come under legal scrutiny. Three Vietnam War veterans sued to block its construction in February, arguing in part that by blocking the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the Arlington cemetery, the arch “would dishonor their military and foreign service and the legacy of their comrades and other veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Lawyers for D.C. and Virginia designated the case filed Saturday as related to the earlier one, which sends it to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee. She held a hearing on the issue on Friday and is currently weighing whether to halt construction of the arch in that case.

Earlier this month, the county board of Arlington, Virginia — where the proposed arch would be built — filed its own suit to block the project. That case is pending in federal court in Alexandria.