Federal planners approve Trump’s 250-foot arch near Arlington

Federal planners approved President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, clearing a major hurdle for a monument that still faces lawsuits seeking to stop construction.

The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4. The meeting included nearly nine hours of public comment. The arch is planned for Memorial Circle, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, to mark 250 years of American independence.

Trump appointees on the commission said the structure would honor the country and its veterans, the BBC reported. Mark Paoletta, the commission’s executive director, praised Trump’s “historic vision” and said the arch would be the “grandest arch ever built by mankind,” according to CBS News. The BBC reported that Paoletta described it as the monumental gateway Arlington National Cemetery deserves.

Opponents said its scale and location would intrude on a solemn setting. California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called the project “illegal” and said Congress should debate it. “This arch would dishonor America, our ideals, and our laws,” he told the commission, according to CBS News. He also argued that it would disrupt views connecting Arlington and the Lincoln Memorial.

Marine veteran Jimi Shaughnessy said a “dominating arch with a carnival-like atmosphere of tourists, food trucks and buses” would be “abhorrent and insulting” to those who died in service and their families, CBS News reported. The BBC reported that another veteran, John Pomeroy, whose parents are buried at Arlington, said the arch “would lessen the solemn nature of a visit to the cemetery.” Veteran Anne Wright told the BBC she would try to block construction: “We’ll tie ourselves to the bulldozer.”

Plans filed with the commission show an arch 166 feet tall, topped by three gilded figures — a winged female figure between two flying eagles — bringing its total height to 250 feet. It would include an observation deck. The administration estimates it could attract 2,000 to 22,400 visitors a day, according to CBS News. The BBC reported that a rendering also shows the inscriptions “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All.”

Trump has said the structure would house drones and sniper ammunition, CBS News reported, but the plans before the commission do not describe military use. The BBC reported that the administration has described it as a facility for storing military equipment. Near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the arch received a Federal Aviation Administration finding of “no hazard to air navigation,” subject to safety-lighting conditions, according to CBS News.

Construction could take three years, CBS News reported. Its cost and funding remain unclear. The commission received more than 1,300 public comments, most opposing the project, according to CBS News.

Vietnam War veterans, Virginia and Washington, D.C., have filed lawsuits challenging the administration’s authority to proceed without congressional approval and raising concerns about the project’s effects. CBS News reported that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is considering whether to temporarily block construction and has ordered the government to notify her of the commission’s vote and give notice before any preparations at the site. The Justice Department has urged her to reject the challengers’ requests. It remains unclear when work might begin.