WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 250-foot arch President Donald Trump wants at Memorial Circle in Washington, D.C., cleared its last federal design review this week, only to be frozen hours later by a federal judge.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4 on Thursday to approve the structure after a remote hearing that stretched about nine and a half hours and drew more than 120 witnesses, most of them opposed. Critics argued the arch would spoil the view toward Arlington National Cemetery.
Before midnight, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a 14-day halt on any construction while challenges to the project move through court. The White House called the ruling the work of an activist court and said it expects to win.
Commission chairman Mark Paoletta, a Trump appointee, said the arch completes a century-old idea for a monument on Columbia Island at the end of Memorial Bridge.
The fight is one of several over federal projects in the city, including the East Potomac Golf Links, the White House ballroom and a proposed hero garden in West Potomac Park. All of them have faced lawsuits.
Pressure is likely to grow in January, when Democrats take control of Congress after Tuesday’s midterm elections. California Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on House Natural Resources and a candidate to chair it, has pledged to use the panel’s oversight power on the projects, and Virginia Rep. Don Beyer has said the arch is being rushed.
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