Veterans Ask Judge to Block Construction of Trump's Triumphal Arch

Updated 16:52 UTC, Oct. 31, 2026. The District of Columbia and Virginia filed a federal lawsuit on Saturday to stop the 250-foot triumphal arch planned for Memorial Circle, calling the project "flagrantly unlawful." Attorneys General Brian Schwalb of the District of Columbia and Jay Jones of Virginia argue that Congress never authorized the monument and that the planned height is nearly double the 130-foot limit for buildings in the nation's capital. They say the administration is trying to outrun judicial review by rushing to break ground, and that once work starts it will inflict irreparable harm on the District and Virginia. The suit says construction would snarl traffic on a major route between the District and Virginia, impede emergency responders and send stormwater runoff into the Potomac River. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who sits on the National Capital Planning Commission, filed a declaration supporting the suit, saying the commission has been asked to move forward without the information and approvals the law requires. The commission meets on November 5 to decide on final site and building plans, and administration lawyers have said construction could begin that day. The filing is the third lawsuit against the arch, after the veterans case in Washington and Arlington County's suit in Virginia. USA TODAY said it had sought comment from the National Park Service, the Interior Department and the White House.

Three veterans and a retired architectural historian asked a federal judge in Washington on Thursday to stop the Trump administration from starting work on a 250-foot triumphal arch along the Potomac River, one day after the National Park Service signaled that construction could begin as early as November 5.

The plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to prohibit the administration and the National Park Service "from taking any steps to construct, or to direct or facilitate construction of, any structure in Memorial Circle, absent congressional authorization, during the pendency of this litigation." Memorial Circle sits on Columbia Island between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The plaintiffs asked the judge to rule on the request no later than November 4.

The filing and the deadline

The request answers a notice the Park Service and the executive office of the president filed in the case on Wednesday. That notice said construction could begin as early as November 5, pending approval by the National Capital Planning Commission, which meets that day to consider final approval of the site and building plans. Construction could start once that approval is finished, the Interior Department issues a final decision, and the required notification is published. "NPS may publish such notice as early as November 5, 2026, and construction could commence as early as November 5, 2026," the notice said.

In their filing on Thursday, the plaintiffs said the notice "makes clear that the defendants have no intention of awaiting this court's decision on the cross-motions for summary judgment and have every intention of imminently beginning construction of the arch on Memorial Circle." Judge Chutkan ordered the two sides to meet and file a briefing schedule by noon Friday.

Congress has not authorized the arch, plaintiffs say

The lawsuit was filed in February by three Vietnam War veterans. The plaintiffs argue that building the arch is unauthorized by any law because Congress has not passed a statute allowing it. They say the arch would permanently interfere with the views between the cemetery and the memorial, a landscape they visit to pay their respects.

"The Trump administration's most recent filing does not change the arch's fundamental illegality," said Wendy Liu, an attorney representing the challengers. "Congress has not authorized the arch. Unless and until it does so, construction of this project is unlawful, regardless of what the NCPC decides on November 5."

The Public Citizen Litigation Group is one of the legal groups representing the plaintiffs.

Two versions of the arch

President Donald Trump announced in September that the arch would store drones and function as a post for military snipers, with a cache of ammunition. The final plans released last week do not include those military features. They describe the structure, planned at 250 feet tall (76 meters), as a "ceremonial gateway" to the capital. The Interior Department told the planning commission the plan could still accommodate such a feature, the Associated Press reported.

The arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all appointed by Trump. The case in Washington is one of two lawsuits challenging the project. The Arlington County Board in Virginia filed its own suit earlier this month in the Eastern District of Virginia, the first governmental body to take legal action against the planned monument. That suit criticized the speed at which the project has moved without the full review process. The administration disputed that claim.