Planning commission gives final approval to 250-foot arch on 8-4 vote
President Donald Trump devoted his first public appearance after Tuesday’s midterm elections not to his policies or his politics but to his campaign to remake the look of Washington. On Wednesday he toured the under-construction White House ballroom, discussing columns, steel beams and Corinthian design; two days earlier, his closing message to the public before the vote centered on the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The Associated Press characterized the election result, which put Democrats in control of Congress, as a sound repudiation of the president’s policies.
That result is likely to mean far more roadblocks for the administration’s work to change the physical face of the District of Columbia than it faced during the first two years of Trump’s second term, according to The Associated Press. From the renaming of and renovation plans for the Kennedy Center to remaking a public golf course and erecting an arch 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty without its pedestal, the president has been deeply involved in how the city looks. Democrats have voiced opposition throughout, but until now they have lacked institutional power.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, which holds jurisdiction over the Interior Department and operations at parks and federal lands, spent much of the past year probing and questioning the projects. In a letter to colleagues seeking their support to make him chairman, Huffman wrote that Democrats have “pushed back against vanity projects that seek to transform treasured public spaces into gaudy tributes to Trump,” exposed corruption, uncovered efforts to hijack America’s 250th birthday and demanded accountability, while offering what he called an alternative governing vision grounded in science, fairness, environmental responsibility and the rule of law. As chairman with a strong Democratic majority, he wrote, “I will ensure that the Committee’s full investigative and oversight authority is leveraged to uncover wrongdoing, demand accountability, and protect the public interest.”
Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia accused Trump of rushing the projects, a point Beyer made Thursday at a public hearing where he opposed construction of the memorial arch the president has planned for Memorial Circle, directly across the Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial. “The appropriations process beginning Jan. 3 will be controlled by Democrats. That will be one of the ways Congressman Beyer will step in,” said Aaron Fritschner, Beyer’s spokesman. Democrats have joined lawsuits against the projects, Fritschner noted, but filings from a congressional minority do not carry the weight of the institution itself. Fritschner said Beyer has already been a critic of the projects and cited other House members who have signed on in amicus briefs supporting the litigation. “You’ll see the new majority pulling back the balance of power that (House Speaker) Mike Johnson was willing to cede,” he said. A less visible shift will be who names the House general counsel — a role held by the speaker, presumably Rep. Hakeem Jeffries when Democrats organize the chamber.
The coming collision was already on display at Thursday’s meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission. The remote, call-in hearing crashed repeatedly, ran 9½ hours late into Thursday night and drew more than 120 witnesses, with a comment section that ran nearly universally negative, according to The Associated Press. Witnesses used three-minute slots to deliver impassioned comments against an arch they said will destroy the solemnity of nearby Arlington National Cemetery. The commission’s Trump-appointed chairman, by contrast, praised the proposed monument at length and lauded Trump for wanting to build it.
The commission gave the 250-foot arch its final approval on an 8-4 vote, starting an immediate process that could lead to construction beginning quickly, absent a judge’s intervention. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is considering a motion from three veterans and an architectural historian to stop any work until their lawsuit is resolved. A separate lawsuit filed Saturday by the District of Columbia and Virginia has been consolidated with that case, and the two governments have asked for a temporary restraining order.
At Wednesday’s ballroom construction site tour, Trump spoke about four undertakings: the ballroom itself, the East Potomac Golf Links, the National Garden of American Heroes proposed for West Potomac Park and the arch. All four have been, or currently are, in litigation.
The golf course has grown into an undertaking beyond potential construction. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes has said she plans to open a “formal inquiry” into whether attorneys for the Trump administration violated ethical boundaries during a legal dispute over the project. Estimates for the work have been hard to come by, even in court, with figures trickling out in testimony — among them a seawall at the golf course projected to exceed $300 million. Congress, for its part, appropriated $257 million for the Kennedy Center renovation.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents plaintiffs in several of the lawsuits, said the switch in control means the organizations that have challenged the administration in court will now be joined by Congress. “The important thing now is that the American people now have a tool that’s not just in the courts,” Perryman said. Organizations like hers will keep litigating, she said. “We hope and we anticipate Congress will fulfill its constitutional duty of checking executive branch excesses,” she added, pointing to hearings and investigations into the projects’ funding plans and sources.
The new majority will be sizable. Associated Press tallies showed that as of Thursday the incoming Congress will have 54 Democratic senators and 237 Democratic representatives, compared with 44 Republicans in the Senate and 147 in the House now in office. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Tuesday’s voting also changes the politics of the National Guard presence in the capital. Democrats won governorships in Texas, Georgia, Iowa and Nevada — states that account for more than 600 of the National Guard members in the mobilization Trump ordered in August 2025. Democrats who provided troops for the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary drew criticism for the participation and removed their troops and airmen months ago. Nearly 3,100 Guard members are stationed in the city now, up slightly from last month.