Federal judge’s temporary block came after commission approved arch plans
Nine members of the Kennedy family have joined the legal effort to block President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, according to a Tuesday filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The National Park Service says the arch is intended to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The Kennedy filing said the proposed arch would permanently cast shadows over the graves of relatives and fallen American servicemembers. The family also said the structure would obstruct the designed sightline from the eternal flame at President John F. Kennedy’s gravesite.
In a joint statement Tuesday, Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy, children of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, said: “We believe Donald Trump has violated the laws and procedures established by Congress to protect this most sacred national memorial.”
They added: “A towering arch casting shadows across the graves of our father, mother, and uncles, as well as the graves of so many who have served our country, would also cast a shadow over our democratic principles, undermining the safeguards established by our elected representatives to protect this hallowed ground for generations to come.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Kennedys argued that they have an interest in blocking construction to protect gravesites and memorials for relatives including President John F. Kennedy and his brothers Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. All of those relatives are buried or memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery across the bridge from D.C. in Virginia.
A federal district judge temporarily blocked construction of the arch last week. The decision came after the National Capital Planning Commission, led by Trump appointees, approved plans for the project.
Trump calls the structure a triumphal arch and has said it would also serve as a military complex with snipers and drones. The National Park Service has said the project is intended to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Those seeking to block construction argue that the president lacks authority to move forward without congressional approval. They say approval is required when building structures or new monuments on federal public land in the nation’s capital. Government lawyers have said the National Park Service has authority over national parkland.
Three veterans and an architectural historian were the first to sue the Trump administration over the project in February. The District of Columbia and Virginia filed a separate lawsuit to stop the project late last month.
The proposed arch would be twice as large as the Lincoln Memorial and take about three years to complete. It is one of several construction projects Trump has pursued around the nation’s capital during his second term, including the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The president has pushed through construction of these projects even as they face litigation arguing that he has failed to obtain congressional approval.