Follow-Up: Federal Judge Halts Work on Trump's 250-Foot Arch for 14 Days, Hours After Planning Commission Approves Plans 8-4

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., issued a temporary restraining order on the night of November 5 barring the federal government, for 14 days, from any construction-related activity for President Donald Trump's 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle in Washington. Earlier that same evening, the National Capital Planning Commission had approved the arch's final site and building plans by a vote of 8-4.

The commission met online that day and heard more than eight hours of testimony from over 120 people, most of them opponents, including veterans, lawmakers and residents, before voting to approve at about 10:29 p.m. The administration had previously told the court that excavation could begin as early as the same day once the plans were approved, and the National Park Service also posted a decision record approving the project on November 5.

The order covers construction, excavation, demolition, land disturbance, utility installation, roadway closures and any other construction-related activity. Judge Chutkan directed the defendants to notify employees, contractors, subcontractors and other parties involved in the project, and to update the court by November 9 on those notification efforts and certify their compliance. In a 33-page opinion, she found that the District of Columbia and Virginia are likely to succeed in their lawsuit: Congress never specifically authorized the arch. The government's reliance on the 1925 law authorizing the Arlington Memorial Bridge project was not accepted, and its later assertion of national security benefits was described as belated and unsupported. She also found that construction, once begun, would immediately disrupt traffic and force local agencies to commit resources they could not recover.

The order stems from the October 31 lawsuit by the District of Columbia and Virginia against the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior, whose attorneys general called the project 'flagrantly unlawful'; the case has been consolidated with the first lawsuit, filed in February by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian. The plaintiffs argue that under the Commemorative Works Act, a monument of this kind in the capital requires specific congressional authorization, which the administration has not obtained. The Justice Department previously described a construction schedule of about 33 to 39 months in court filings, with the first six to eight months focused on excavation and foundation work.

The arch is planned for Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, at the western end of Arlington Memorial Bridge between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery; the stone structure would rise 166 feet, with gilded figures on top bringing the total height to 250 feet, and is intended to mark the nation's 250th anniversary. The 14-day order only pauses groundbreaking: it does not undo the planning commission's approval and does not finally decide whether the project is lawful. The judge has not yet ruled on a longer stay or on the veterans' request for a preliminary injunction, and the court's next decisions will determine whether the pause is extended.

(Source: Associated Press)

Related: Follow-Up: D.C. and Virginia Sue to Block Trump's Triumphal Arch, Calling the 250-Foot Monument 'Flagrantly Unlawful'

Source: Associated Press

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：自阿灵顿纪念桥望向 Memorial Circle 与阿灵顿国家公墓方向，凯旋门拟建于桥西端的这处环岛（资料图，2026年9月7日）。G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Looking from Arlington Memorial Bridge toward Memorial Circle and Arlington National Cemetery; the triumphal arch is planned for this traffic circle at the bridge's western end (file photo, September 7, 2026). Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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