A planned arch at Memorial Circle could disrupt a major route between Washington, D.C., and Virginia, impede emergency responders and send stormwater runoff into the Potomac River, according to a lawsuit seeking to stop the project.
The District of Columbia and Virginia filed suit against the Trump administration on Saturday, arguing that construction requires congressional authorisation and would violate federal laws governing commemorative works, building height, administrative procedure, environmental review and historic preservation.
Jay Jones, Virginia’s attorney general, and Brian L. Schwalb, Washington’s attorney general, brought the case in federal court on behalf of their jurisdictions. Their challenge concerns an arch planned for Memorial Circle, at the junction of Arlington Memorial Bridge and George Washington Memorial Parkway, before the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
President Trump announced the project in October 2025 as a commemoration of the country’s 250th birthday. The administration subsequently received approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.
The proposed structure would stand 250 feet tall and 166 feet wide, with a 55-foot-wide opening. It is designed as a white, triumphal arch with gilded eagles and a central winged angel, with the words ‘One nation under God’ across its white-stone facade.
The states say its height would conflict with the Height of Buildings Act, which generally bars structures above 130 feet in the capital, subject to limited exceptions. They also contend that the project has not met requirements under the Commemorative Works Act and a federal provision requiring congressional authorisation for a monument on federal land in Washington.
Other challengers have already gone to court. Arlington County has filed a separate lawsuit over traffic and safety concerns. Vietnam War veterans have sued as well, arguing that the arch would obstruct the view of Arlington National Cemetery from the Lincoln Memorial. The first case was filed on February 19 by three US military veterans and a retired architectural historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
At a hearing on Friday, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan questioned what she called the administration’s ‘brand-new’ national-security rationale. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin had said in sworn statements that the project was needed to protect the United States from drone attacks.
When Chutkan asked Robert N. Stander, a deputy assistant attorney general, ‘Can you show me any piece of paper?’, he said he could not produce written support for that argument.
Michael Lemmon, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, told the court on Friday that the structure would be a ‘monstrous edifice’ that would disturb the solemn way he experiences Arlington cemetery, where over 400,000 people are buried.
The National Park Service said in an August report that the arch would ‘diminish the integrity’ of important features at other sites. The states’ lawsuit also says the work would damage historic settings and the environment while bringing extended disruption to the area.
The National Capital Planning Commission is scheduled to meet on November 5 to vote on the final site and building plans. The Trump administration has said construction could begin as early as November 5. The work could last two to three years and continue nearly around the clock.
The outcome remains unresolved. An April Ipsos survey found that 52 percent of Americans opposed the arch, while 21 percent supported it.
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