Judge Blocks Construction Of Trump's Arch For 14 Days

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A federal judge has issued a 14-day injunction, halting all construction on Trump's arch project, according to NPR. The order from District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan came less than two hours after a federal planning commission had granted final approval for the controversial structure.

Judge Chutkan's order, which became effective minutes after her decision, granted a request filed days earlier by the governments of Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The administration had intended to commence construction work immediately. In her thirty-three-page memorandum and opinion, Chutkan cited numerous conflicting and inconsistent claims from the Trump administration. These included sudden declarations from Secretary of War Peter Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullen, filed late in the ongoing litigation, describing the Arch as a potential platform for“coordinated protective operations.”

D.C. and Virginia stated in their complaints that building the arch“will inflict immediate and irreparable harm on the District and Virginia.” They noted that the structure is“slated to be built on a busy traffic circle that abuts the border between the jurisdictions, at the center of a historic viewshed, in a river whose environment the District has a statutory responsibility to protect.” Judge Chutkan concurred that the local governments would likely suffer harm from the arch's construction.

The National Park Service (NPS) environmental assessment concluded that the arch would negatively impact nearby historical properties, such as Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The NPS also estimated that the project would involve two to three months of site preparation and excavation, four to five months for foundation work, and a total construction period of two to three years.

During a night of public testimony on Thursday, former D.C. resident Emi Yamauchi remarked,“Leaving aside all of the legitimate concerns and challenges about the required approvals, funding, land use, single-source bidding, and peer review, the American people spoke this past Tuesday at the ballot box. They said enough vanity projects, enough corruption, enough Reflecting Pool travesties.”

We previously reported:

Defense and Homeland Security secretaries are pitching a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery as a“generational defense

Source: Artforum

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