Three Vietnam Veterans race to court to stop Trump’s giant D.C. arch before the digging starts

BS BULLETIN:

Three Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian have asked a federal judge for an emergency order blocking work on President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
The request came after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that excavation work at Memorial Circle is expected to begin within two weeks.
The administration says it can begin preliminary work while continuing the approval process. Opponents say the project still lacks required approvals and congressional authorization.

President Donald Trump wants to build the biggest triumphal arch in the world. His opponents would like a federal judge to stop the shovels before they hit dirt.

Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian filed an emergency request Friday seeking a temporary restraining order against work on Trump’s planned 250-foot arch at Memorial Circle, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The legal maneuver came one day after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that the administration was preparing to begin excavation within the next two weeks. “This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture,” Burgum said while unveiling new renderings of the project.

The proposed white-and-gold arch would tower over the Washington landscape and stand roughly 86 feet taller than Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. Trump says it will commemorate America’s 250th anniversary and has argued that the capital of the world’s most powerful country deserves a monumental arch of its own.

The challengers see things very differently. Their attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to prohibit the administration for 14 days from taking steps toward construction while she considers the underlying lawsuit. The veterans argue that Congress never authorized the project and that the arch would dramatically alter the historic sightline connecting the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. They also argue that the project has not completed all of the required federal reviews.

The National Capital Planning Commission has given preliminary approval but has not granted final approval. Its next monthly meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1. A historic-preservation review also remains underway, while the Federal Aviation Administration has been examining the potential impact of the 250-foot structure because of its proximity to Reagan National Airport.

The White House says it isn’t skipping those approvals. An administration official told NPR that the work being contemplated now “does not require approval” and instead assists with the process. “We will of course continue on our path of seeking final approval from all applicable entities,” the White House said.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, wants the veterans’ lawsuit dismissed. Government attorneys argue that the challengers haven’t demonstrated the type of concrete injury necessary to establish standing. The administration also points to congressional action dating to 1925 involving a proposed monument at the site — one that was never built — as part of its argument that additional congressional authorization isn’t necessary.

The veterans’ attorneys reject that interpretation. And their urgency increased considerably when Burgum announced that excavation was about to begin. They argue that the administration could effectively turn the arch into a “fait accompli” by getting enough work completed before the courts have resolved whether the project is lawful. That argument comes immediately after another Trump construction battle.

The Supreme Court this week allowed work on Trump’s White House ballroom to continue, ruling 5-4 that historic-preservation groups challenging that project lacked standing. The Justice Department cited that decision Thursday in asking Chutkan to dismiss the arch case.

The veterans’ lawyers contend their case is different because their clients regularly visit Arlington National Cemetery and say the massive arch would directly alter that experience.

Trump has made reshaping and renovating parts of Washington a major priority, from the White House ballroom to the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The arch would be considerably harder to miss. If built as planned, it would become one of the dominant structures along one of Washington’s most famous ceremonial corridors.

MY QUICK TAKE

Washington can turn absolutely anything into a federal court case. There are legitimate legal questions here, and the judge will sort those out.

But I will say this: Trump understands something about Washington that politicians have forgotten for decades. The nation’s capital is supposed to look like the capital of a great nation.

Rush Limbaugh used to talk about American exceptionalism without apologizing for the word American or the exceptionalism.

You can argue about whether this particular arch belongs in this particular spot. But I have a hard time getting worked up over the underlying idea that America might build something monumental, beautiful and unapologetically American.