Virginia and the District of Columbia went to federal court on Saturday in a last-ditch push to stop President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch from going up at Memorial Circle in Washington, just days before the administration says construction will begin.
The Trump administration has said it plans to break ground on the arch next week, on Nov. 5, according to NBC News. That is the same day the National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by Trump appointees, is set to vote on the final plans. The commission approved initial plans earlier this year.
“Immediate and irreparable harm”
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb did not mince words in their filing.
“The construction of the Arch will inflict immediate and irreparable harm on the District and Virginia,” they wrote. “The Arch is slated to be built on a busy traffic circle that abuts the border between the jurisdictions, at the center of a historic viewshed, in a river whose environment the District has a statutory responsibility to protect.”
They added that both the construction and the finished monument “will disrupt the operations of both jurisdictions, impair their ability to carry out their responsibilities under federal and local law, and require the expenditure of substantial resources to mitigate and address those impacts.”
Why they say it can’t wait
The two attorneys general told the court their request is urgent, warning that once the bulldozers start, the administration will argue it’s too late to stop them.
“It is entirely foreseeable that, once construction begins, Defendants will argue, as they have done in other cases, that an order halting construction would irreparably harm the federal government, pose security risks, and impermissibly alter the status quo they have unilaterally created,” they wrote. “The Court should not allow this cynical gambit to succeed.”
The laws they say Trump is breaking
According to the lawsuit, the administration is violating:
- The Commemorative Works Act, by moving ahead without specific authorization from Congress.
- The Height of Buildings Act, because the arch is set to exceed 130 feet.
- The National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
Eagles, Lady Liberty, and “snipers”
Renderings obtained by NBC News in April show the arch would feature winged eagles, Lady Liberty, and a line from the Pledge of Allegiance.
In September, Trump claimed on Truth Social that the arch would also serve a national security purpose, saying it would be outfitted to “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”
But the final plans and renderings submitted to the planning commission do not include any of those military features, NBC News reported.
Part of a bigger pattern
The arch is one of Trump’s efforts to remake Washington in his own image during his second term. He has used national security arguments to defend other contested construction projects too, including the new ballroom he is building at the White House, which he says will sit on top of a military complex.
Now a federal judge will have to decide whether the arch can go up on the banks of the Potomac before anyone has a chance to stop it.