WASHINGTON — A federal judge temporarily barred construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot memorial arch near Arlington National Cemetery late Thursday, hours after a federal planning commission gave the project final approval.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a 14-day temporary restraining order in litigation brought by the District of Columbia and Virginia. The order prevents the administration from beginning construction while the court considers challenges to the project’s legal authority and potential effects on neighboring communities.
The National Capital Planning Commission, stacked with Trump appointees, voted 8-4 to approve the arch after a lengthy public hearing that drew opposition from veterans, preservation advocates and local officials. The proposed monument would rise at Memorial Circle, near the Virginia end of Arlington Memorial Bridge.
The administration argues that the arch would honor veterans and fulfill a historic plan for the bridge’s western approach. Opponents contend that the project lacks congressional authorization and would disrupt traffic, emergency access and historic views around Arlington National Cemetery.
In granting temporary relief, Chutkan found that the District and Virginia had shown a risk of immediate harm from construction-related disruptions. She also questioned the government’s reliance on a 1925 law associated with Arlington Memorial Bridge as authority for the substantially larger monument now proposed.
“The sheer improbability that a 100-year-old statute would contain authority, unknown to every previous administration, to erect a 250-foot arch at a principal location in the Nation’s capital indicates how far Defendants must stretch to justify this project” said Chutkan.
The Justice Department had indicated that excavation and foundation work could begin promptly after approval. The government has estimated that the project would take roughly three years to complete.
On Thursday, independent journalist Andrew Leyden discovered that workers had already begun marking off construction lines, in violation of the judge’s order that no work be done without notification to the court. Government attorney hastily filed a notification Thursday afternoon.
Chutkan ordered the government to provide a compliance report Monday. The commission’s approval remains in place, but construction cannot proceed during the temporary court-ordered pause.
