A federal judge has halted construction work on Donald Trump’s towering triumphal arch for 14 days, a major setback for one of the president’s most prominent projects in his vision to remake Washington.
The temporary restraining order was issued by US district judge Tanya Chutkan in the early hours of Friday. It followed a series of steps taken on Thursday by the government, including the final approval of the 250-foot-high (76-meter) arch by the National Capital Planning Commission in an 8-4 vote after a nine-hour hearing where dozens of witnesses opposed the construction.
The arch is one of several projects around Washington that Trump has undertaken as he remakes the city, from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Those projects could soon face greater scrutiny after the Democrats gained control of Congress.
The administration had said the work on the arch could begin as soon as the approval and the interior department issued a final decision authorizing construction and the proper notification was published by the National Park Service.
In issuing the delay, Chutkan granted the request of the latest plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging the arch. Chutkan also consolidated lawsuits from the District of Columbia and Virginia with a group of Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian.
It’s unclear how much the project will cost, or how it will be paid for, although some estimates have reached as high as $100m.
The vote by the planning commission on Thursday came after nine and a half hours and scores of people opposing it. The vote by the commission broke along federal and local lines. Those in favor work for the administration or are connected to the president, who was pushing for the immediate construction. Opponents represented the city of Washington.
The remote, call-in hearing – which crashed repeatedly in the first few hours and was accompanied by a nearly universally negative comment section – drew witnesses who gave impassioned comments opposing an arch that they said would destroy the solemnity of the nearby Arlington national cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of fallen service members and military veterans are buried.
The panel’s Trump-appointed chair launched the meeting with a gushing appraisal of the towering monument and lauded Trump for wanting to build it.
“President Trump understands as president and a superb builder that it’s important to our national identity to display who we are through grand monuments,” said Mark Paoletta, the commission’s chair.
As Trump has often remarked, “the great cities around the world have arches: Paris, Rome, London,” said Paoletta, who also serves as general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Commissioner Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer for the General Services Administration, said the arch was “not about politics. It’s about remembrance. It’s about celebrating our history. It’s about commemorating veterans. And it’s really something that’s a noble tribute to our nation and something that we can all rally behind.”
But DC city council member Phil Mendelson, who also serves on the planning panel, said the project had not received required approval from Congress, nor had Congress appropriated any money for it. The plan submitted to the commission does not include a reference to military use cited by Trump and other administration officials, Mendelson said.
“We cannot approve final site and building plans until we have the final site and building plans,” he said.
Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is set to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, called the project ill-advised and illegal.
“This arch would dishonor America,” Huffman told the commission. He called the proposed arch “a tribute to Donald Trump,” not veterans, as Trump administration officials claim. The monument is similar to those built for emperors or kings, Huffman said, adding that Trump was using veterans as a pretext to build a memorial to himself.
