A federal judge late last night (Thursday) blocked the Trump administration from breaking ground on its 250-foot arch in Memorial Circle for 14 days.
The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is another setback for one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent projects in his vision to remake Washington.
It came just over an hour after the National Capital Planning Commission gave the arch final approval in an 8-4 vote, following a nine-and-a-half-hour hearing where dozens of witnesses opposed the construction.
The administration had said work could begin as soon as Nov. 5 once the commission approved it, the Interior Department issued a final decision authorizing construction and the National Park Service published the proper notice.
In issuing the temporary stop, Chutkan said Virginia and D.C., which sued over the arch last month, had shown that the immediacy of the construction would cause them real harm.
“The harm is certain,” she wrote. “Defendants initially notified the court that construction could begin as early as November 5, 2026, if the NCPC approves the project at its meeting that day and the Department of the Interior authorizes construction.”
In their filing, Virginia and D.C. warned of traffic disruptions around the circle at the Virginia end of Memorial Bridge, as well as effects on mutual aid emergency calls between the jurisdictions.
“Second, the District and Virginia will incur significant unrecoverable costs. As soon as construction begins, DDOT will need to expend staff time and operating resources to affirmatively and proactively manage temporary detours, crashes or disabled vehicles,” Chutkan wrote.
Arlington County planning staff raised similar traffic concerns this summer, including effects on the GW Parkway and Richmond Highway. The County Board has its own lawsuit pending in the Eastern District of Virginia, one of three filed against the arch.
The commission’s vote broke along federal and local lines. Those in favor work for the administration or are connected to the president, who was pushing for immediate construction. Opponents represented the city of Washington.
The remote, call-in hearing crashed repeatedly in the first few hours and was accompanied by a nearly universally negative comment section. Witnesses said the arch would destroy the solemnity of Arlington National Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of fallen service members and military veterans are buried.
The panel’s Trump-appointed chairman opened the meeting with a glowing appraisal of the monument and praised Trump for wanting to build it.
“President Trump understands as president and a superb builder that it’s important to our national identity to display who we are through grand monuments,” said Mark Paoletta, the commission’s chairman, who also serves as general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Commissioner Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer for the General Services Administration, said the arch was “not about politics. It’s about remembrance. It’s about celebrating our history. It’s about commemorating veterans.”
But D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, who also serves on the panel, said the project has not received required approval from Congress, nor has Congress appropriated any money for it. The plan submitted to the commission doesn’t reference the military use cited by Trump and other administration officials, Mendelson said.
“We cannot approve final site and building plans until we have the final site and building plans,” he said.
The commission oversees construction on federal land in the city and began reviewing the arch plan in June.
Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is set to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, told the commission the project was ill-advised and illegal.
“This arch would dishonor America,” Huffman said. He called the arch “a tribute to Donald Trump,” not veterans, comparing it to monuments built for emperors or kings.
Hours before the hearing, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and County Board member J.D. Spain Sr. (D) joined another protest in Memorial Circle, where Spain pledged to keep fighting the project.
The arch is one of several projects around Washington that the Republican president has undertaken as he alters the capital to his tastes, from renovating the East Potomac golf course to threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center. Those projects could face intense scrutiny after Democrats gained control of Congress in this week’s midterm elections.
