Judge halts construction of Trump's 250ft triumphal arch for 14 days
US district judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order hours after a federal planning commission approved the Washington monument in an 8-4 vote.
At a glance
- Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a 14-day restraining order halting work on Trump's triumphal arch in Washington.
- The National Capital Planning Commission approved the 250ft (76m) arch 8-4 after a nine-and-a-half-hour hearing.
- Opponents cite Arlington cemetery's solemnity, missing congressional approval and unclear costs, estimated up to $100m.
A federal judge has temporarily halted construction work on Donald Trump's planned triumphal arch in Washington, issuing a 14-day restraining order in the early hours of Friday.
US district judge Tanya Chutkan granted the request of the latest plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging the project. She also consolidated lawsuits brought by the District of Columbia and Virginia with those of a group of Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian.
The order is a setback for one of the president's most prominent projects in his wider drive to remake the city, a programme that has ranged from renovating a public golf course to threatening to demolish the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Those projects could face greater scrutiny now that Democrats have gained control of Congress.
The administration had said work could begin as soon as approvals were complete. On Thursday the National Capital Planning Commission gave final approval to the 250-foot-high (76-metre) arch in an 8-4 vote, after a hearing lasting nine and a half hours in which dozens of witnesses spoke against the plan. The interior department then issued a final decision authorising construction and the National Park Service published the required notification.
Divided vote after marathon hearing
The commission's vote broke along federal and local lines. Members in favour work for the administration or are connected to the president, who was pressing for immediate construction; opponents represented the city of Washington. The remote, call-in hearing crashed repeatedly in its first hours and drew impassioned testimony that the arch would destroy the solemnity of the nearby Arlington national cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of service members and veterans are buried.
Mark Paoletta, the commission's Trump-appointed chair and general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget, opened the meeting with praise for the monument, saying Trump understood that "it's important to our national identity to display who we are through grand monuments". Commissioner Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer for the General Services Administration, said the arch was "not about politics" but about remembrance and veterans.
Questions over approval and cost
DC city council member Phil Mendelson, who sits on the panel, said the project had not received required approval from Congress and that no money had been appropriated for it. The plan submitted to the commission does not cite the military use described by Trump and other officials, Mendelson said, adding: "We cannot approve final site and building plans until we have the final site and building plans."
Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat set to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, told the commission the project was ill-advised and illegal and "would dishonor America", calling it a tribute to Trump rather than to veterans. It is unclear how much the project will cost or how it will be paid for, though some estimates have reached as high as $100m.
Source: The Guardian
Questions and answers
- Why has construction of Trump's triumphal arch been halted?
- US district judge Tanya Chutkan issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early on Friday, granting a request from the latest plaintiffs in lawsuits challenging the project and consolidating other cases against it.
- How tall is the arch and how much will it cost?
- The arch is planned to be 250 feet (76 metres) high. It is unclear how much the project will cost or how it will be paid for, though some estimates have reached as high as $100m.
- What objections were raised at the planning commission hearing?
- Witnesses said the arch would destroy the solemnity of nearby Arlington national cemetery. DC council member Phil Mendelson said Congress had not approved the project or appropriated money for it.
