DC and Virginia Sue to Block Trump's 250-Foot Arch as Construction Could Begin Next Week

The District of Columbia and Virginia sued the Trump administration in federal court on Saturday over President Donald Trump's proposed triumphal arch, adding to mounting legal challenges as the administration says construction could begin as early as next week.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan consolidated the new lawsuit later Saturday with the original case she is overseeing, brought by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, and ordered a joint briefing schedule. All the plaintiffs are seeking to halt potential work on the monument, which would rise 250 feet on a patch of grass off the bridge that spans the Potomac River, connecting the city with Arlington National Cemetery. That would make the arch 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty is from its base to the top of the torch.

In the latest filing, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones argue that "as soon as Defendants break ground on this project, they will inflict irreparable harm on both the District and Virginia." They warn that during the three-year construction period, the project would inevitably snarl traffic between the jurisdictions, produce pollution and stormwater runoff in the Potomac, interfere with emergency services, and pose other challenges.

Like the original plaintiffs, the two jurisdictions are seeking a temporary restraining order to slow the administration's plans to move ahead imminently with construction. Chutkan is already considering issuing an order to halt the project until the original lawsuit is resolved. She held a hearing Friday but did not immediately act, though she said she would move expeditiously.

A mockup of the proposed arch was displayed at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in June.