The Trump administration was ready to get moving on Donald Trump’s giant Washington arch.
A federal judge just slammed the brakes on the project.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday ordered the administration not to begin construction at the proposed site of Trump’s 250-foot “triumphal arch” without providing formal notice first, and before the court could decide whether the project is legally authorized.
And she made the consequences clear: construction or demolition without the required notice would violate her orders.
The warning came one day after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that the administration planned to begin excavation work for the massive arch within two weeks—even though the project is facing an ongoing lawsuit and still lacks final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian who are challenging the project had asked Chutkan to block the administration from moving forward.
Their lawyers argued that the government appeared to be rushing ahead in an effort to make the project a “fait accompli” before the court could rule on its legality.
That argument has become more urgent after the Supreme Court recently cleared the way for Trump’s massive White House ballroom to continue.
In that case, the justices ruled 5-4 that the preservation groups challenging the ballroom did not have legal standing to bring their lawsuit. The Trump administration’s Justice Department has now invoked that ruling while arguing that the veterans’ challenge to the arch should also be dismissed.
But the arch case has a significant difference.
The veterans sued before construction began.
That gives Chutkan a chance to address the legality of the project before the administration can potentially get too far down the road.
And she had already made her position clear.
In an April order, Chutkan said the administration could not break ground without giving the court and the public two weeks’ notice.
“What I do not want is for ground to be broken while this case is pending,” she said at the time.
The administration did not provide that 14-day notice before Burgum announced the planned excavation.
Chutkan’s latest order therefore puts another procedural barrier in the administration’s path: 48 hours’ notice before activity at the site, except for archaeological information gathering.
The proposed structure would rise about 250 feet at Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The design is modeled in part on Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and would feature three golden statues and an observation deck. Trump has promoted the project as a major monument tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The veterans challenging it argue that the project would interfere with historic views between Arlington and the Lincoln Memorial and that federal law requires congressional authorization for construction in the area.
Trump disagrees. His administration has argued that Congress effectively authorized the project more than a century ago. The plaintiffs dispute that interpretation and say newer federal restrictions require additional authorization.
There is another problem for the administration: the arch still does not have final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
So for now, Trump’s plan to leave another enormous mark on Washington is running into the same thing his other major construction projects have encountered: The courts.
The administration may be eager to start digging. But Chutkan has made clear that it cannot simply race ahead and deal with the legal questions later.
