D.C. and Virginia Sue to Stop Trump's 250-Foot Arch Before Thursday Groundbreaking

D.C. and Virginia Sue to Stop Trump's 250-Foot Arch Before Thursday Groundbreaking

Saturday Lawsuit Aims to Beat the Nov. 5 Start Date

Washington, D.C., and Virginia went to federal court on Saturday, Oct. 31, asking a judge to block construction of President Donald Trump's proposed Triumphal Arch, which the administration has said could break ground as soon as Nov. 5, according to POLITICO and NBC News. With final design approval expected imminently, the lawsuit is a last-ditch attempt to stop work before it starts.

Two Attorneys General Call the Project Unlawful Without Congress

The complaint was signed by Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb. ABC News reports the suit calls the arch "flagrantly unlawful" and "legally indefensible" without congressional authorization, arguing the two governments' standing to sue is beyond dispute. White House spokesman Davis Ingle countered that the arch "is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world," as quoted by Axios.

Height, Traffic and Viewshed Fuel the Site Fight

At 250 feet, the arch would rise at Memorial Circle, where Arlington Memorial Bridge meets the George Washington Memorial Parkway, in front of the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, USA Today reports. The suit argues the height violates the District's building height restrictions, while the busy traffic circle, the historic viewshed and the Potomac river environment would all suffer. CBS News notes the structure would stand 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty measured from base to torch, and The Independent writes it would eclipse the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and even the Arc de Triomphe.

Commuters, Visitors and a Cemetery in the Shadow

"The construction of the Arch will inflict immediate and irreparable harm on the District and Virginia," the two attorneys general wrote, according to NBC News. The circle sits on the border between the two jurisdictions, funnels daily commuter traffic, and frames a solemn gateway to a national cemetery, leaving the neighboring governments to argue they have no choice but to sue.

A Weekend Ruling Could Decide What Happens Next

The new suit joins a crowded legal battlefield. CNN and CBS News report that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan held a hearing Friday, Oct. 30, in a separate challenge brought by three Vietnam War veterans and a historian, pointedly asking what harm the government would suffer from waiting "3 or 4 months" apart from "the executive's desire to bedazzle the city." She ordered both sides to agree on a briefing schedule for a temporary restraining order by Saturday evening and said she would rule expeditiously. The Arlington County Board had already sued in early October over the lack of a mandatory environmental review, The Hill reports, while the Justice Department dismissed the challenges as "breathless" and urged Chutkan to follow the Supreme Court's recent decision allowing White House ballroom construction. Whether she issues a temporary block this weekend will decide if Nov. 5 remains the start date. If a sweeping new monument were proposed next to your neighborhood, would you trade years of construction and rerouted traffic for a landmark, or do you think a historic viewshed, once altered, never comes back?